Maharashtra results: Spurned Dhule hopeful spends night guarding EVMs

Ahead of the counting of votes of the crucial Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections, an independent candidate from Maharashtra's Dhule constituency Anil Gote has spent the night outside the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) strong room in Dhule. Gote, on Thursday morning, claimed that he, along with some of his supporters were guarding the EVM strong room facility to avoid any misuse of the voting machines. Gote is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and is contesting independently from Dhule. He had won the 2014 Assembly polls on BJP's ticket, but this time the constituency was given to ally Shiv Sena as part of the seat-sharing formula. The counting of votes of 299-seats Maharashtra and 90-seats Haryana Assembly elections has begun at 8 am on Thursday. 

Opposition raises suspicion

The opposition Congress and its ally NCP, along with some other parties have been raising the issue over the tampering of votes. Congress has expressed fears that the EVMs can be tampered using wireless networks like mobile phones and WiFi. Before the elections, the Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat had written a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer demanding installation of mobile phone jammers outside the EVM rooms at all constituencies across the state till the counting is concluded. 

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Maharashtra Assembly polls

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the 'Mahayuti' alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, and smaller parties is up against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the National Congress Party (NCP).  In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP is contesting on 164 seats, which includes candidates of smaller allies. On the other hand, the Shiv Sena has fielded 126 candidates. The Congress has candidates in 147 constituencies, and NCP will contest 121 seats. The current term of the Maharashtra Assembly, in which the BJP and Shiv Sena are in majority, will come to an end on November 9. 

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(WITH PTI INPUTS)