MVA leaders meeting Photo: Screengrab from ANI video MVA leaders meeting Photo: Screengrab from ANI video 
Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) held a crucial meeting in Mumbai on Sunday, following their significant setback in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024. The meeting, which included top MVA leaders like Aaditya Thackeray, Vijay Wadettiwar, Sunil Prabhu, Jitendra Awhad, Nitin Raut, and Nana Patole, centered around the MVA's response to the election results and the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the elections.
The MVA’s recent defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance has sparked a series of discussions about the credibility of the electoral process.
Aaditya Thackeray, leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), had already expressed his doubts about the fairness of the elections during a statement on Saturday. He raised concerns over the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), claiming that the lack of public celebration after the election results was a clear sign that the outcome was questionable.
“Today, we have decided that our (Shiv Sena UBT) winning MLAs will not take the oath. If this were the mandate of the people, there would have been celebrations and enthusiasm, but there was none. We have doubts about EVMs,” ANI quoted Thackeray.
Jitendra Awhad of the NCP (Pawar faction) pointed to protests in Markadwadi village in Solapur, where villagers had demanded a ‘repoll’ with ballot papers due to alleged electoral misconduct, underscoring the opposition’s continued dissatisfaction with the election process.
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The controversy over EVMs has become a central point of debate. The opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have raised concerns about irregularities in the voting process and demanded a return to the use of ballot papers in future elections. However, the ruling Mahayuti alliance has strongly condemned these claims, accusing the opposition of attempting to mislead the public and refusing to accept the outcome of the elections.
Shiv Sena (Mahayuti) leader Uday Samant criticized the MVA’s stance, accusing them of “double standards.” Samant pointed out that the MVA's refusal to participate in the oath-taking ceremony on Saturday only to reverse their decision later, reflects inconsistency and confusion within the opposition ranks.
“It is because of the MVA's double standards that the Samajwadi Party has parted ways with the alliance. Yesterday, they boycotted the oath-taking ceremony, and today, they will hopefully take the oath as members, highlighting their contradictions,” PTI quoted Samant as he emphasized that the opposition’s narrative about EVM irregularities was misleading.
BJP Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule also dismissed the allegations made by the opposition as baseless. He specifically criticized NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar for spreading confusion about the election results.
“We respect Pawar, but he is spreading falsehoods. He is confusing the people and hiding the opposition’s failure,” Bawankule said, further adding that the MVA was creating a "fake narrative" to avoid facing the reality of their loss.
Eknath Shinde also addressed the accusations made by the opposition. I would only say to the Opposition to respect the mandate of the people of Maharashtra. They should have a positive approach…..This hue and cry should stop. We did not complain during the LS elections. Mahayuti got 3,18,00,000 votes in assembly elections, and MVA got 2,35,00,000 votes. The difference is of one crore. It should be properly analyzed,” Shinde said.
VIDEO | "I would only say to Opposition to respect the mandate by people of Maharashtra. They should have a positive approach. The Mahayuti government had done a lot of work, implemented a lot of schemes, the result is because of it. I, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar would say in… pic.twitter.com/7KT0IN9La7
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 8, 2024The BJP-led Mahayuti secured a landslide victory in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections by winning 230 seats out of 288. The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) saw gains with 57 and 41 seats, respectively. In contrast, the MVA alliance suffered a major setbackph6, with Congress securing only 16 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) winning 20, and the NCP (Pawar faction) securing just 10 seats.