Sharad Pawar says two men offered MVA 160 seats in Maharashtra polls, Rahul Gandhi declined

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday (August 9) said that two persons met him in New Delhi ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year and claimed that they would ensure that the Opposition wins in 160 of 288 constituencies in the state.

'Introduced them to Rahul Gandhi'

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Pawar said that he introduced the two persons to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who showed no interest in what the duo told him. According to Pawar, Rahul said that the Opposition should instead reach out to the people directly.

Two persons met me in New Delhi before the 2024 assembly polls in Maharashtra. They offered to help the Opposition (Maha Vikas Aghadi) win 160 of the 288 seats with a guarantee," said Pawar.

"I introduced them to Rahul Gandhi. He ignored what was told to him. He was also of the view that we (Opposition) shouldn't get involved in such things and go to the people directly," he added as quoted by PTI.

Also Read: Sharad Pawar backs Rahul Gandhi's 'vote theft' allegations

'Didn't bother about their names'

As for the identity of the two persons, Pawar said that he did not bother about asking their names and contact numbers since he did not assign any importance to their claims.

The BJP won 132 seats in the assembly elections with allies Shiv Sena and NCP adding 57 and 41 constituencies, respectively, to the saffron tally.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which bagged 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra months before the assembly elections were held, had attributed its rout to discrepancies in EVMs and fudging of data.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi: EC colluding with BJP to 'steal elections'

Aaditya Thackeray backs Rahul

Rahul on Thursday accused the BJP and the Election Commission of orchestrating a “huge criminal fraud” in elections. He pointed to data from a Karnataka constituency to support his claim, labelling the alleged irregularity “a crime against the Constitution.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray backed Rahul’s claims, alleging that vote theft has been occurring across the country and the Election Commission was functioning under BJP influence. “Rahul Gandhi’s evidence isn’t baseless,” Thackeray said. “He has exposed vote theft. Rather than dismissing his claims, the EC should engage him in a public debate,” he added.

Thackeray emphasised that the figures cited by Gandhi were sourced directly from the Election Commission’s own website. “If these records are wrong,” he questioned, “then whose data can we trust?” He contrasted these allegations with Nationalist Congress Party–Secular Chief Sharad Pawar’s separate assertion that he was offered 160 seats in exchange for political support during the Maharashtra elections.

(With agency inputs)