The leader of the opposition in Maharashtra and Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Ajit Pawar said on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014 under prime minister Narendra Modi's name and spread to many remote areas, If this isn't PM Modi's magic, what is it? he asked. It is to be noted that Pawar's statement came just hours after Uddhav's Sena tried to dismiss ally Adani's remarks.
He further said that it was Modi's magic that brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and again in 2019. In response to the "educated prime minister" row, Pawar stated that education in politics is not given much weight.
"Under PM Modi's name, the party came to power in 2014 and reached many remote places," he said. "Many statements were made against him after he won, but he gained popularity, and under his leadership, the BJP won in several states and did so again in 2019. If this is not the magic of PM Modi then what is? As far as education in politics is concerned, it is considered to be not much of importance," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
The Maharashtra leader of opposition backed the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the country's electoral process on Saturday, saying he has "full trust" in them and that they cannot be manipulated. According to Pawar, those who lose elections begin to blame the EVMs and refuse to accept the people's mandate.
"I have full trust in EVM personally. If EVMs were faulty, opposition parties would not have formed governments in states such as Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. EVM manipulation is not permitted in our country. It's a large system with many checks and balances," Pawar said.
"If it is proven that EVMs were tampered with, the country will be thrown into chaos. Nobody would dare to do such things, in my opinion. Sometimes people lose elections but believe they can't, so they start making allegations about EVMs when, in reality, it's the actual mandate of the people," he added.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar's recent statement on the Adani issue will have no impact on the opposition's unity in the state and that like-minded will remain united against the BJP, this came after Ajit Pawar stated that if NCP chief stands for this (against JPC demand into Adani issue), then the party will as well.