Something Amiss': Sanjay Raut Questions Maharashtra Election Results Amid Opposition Rout

In the ongoing Maharashtra election, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut has raised serious concerns about the results, calling them "suspect" and claiming there is "something amiss" with the way the election is unfolding. While the Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, was signaled as poised for a historic victory through early leads, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi-constituted by Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the NCP under the leadership of Sharad Pawar-appeared to be heading for a massive drubbing.

By 11:30 a.m., Mahayuti had thus gained an apparent lead in 220 of the state's 288 seats, with the opposition alliance likely to sweep only 56. In several constituencies, even prominent leaders such as Aaditya Thackeray, scion of the Shiv Sena (UBT), were trailing by hundreds of votes. The overwhelming and surprising lead for Mahayuti has given many second thoughts, especially about Raut, who brought that question into consideration whether there was any lack of fair results.

Raut says the results are not according to the democratic values. He says Eknath Shinde-led faction leading in 60 seats, while NCP is leading in 40 seats, and BJP is winning around 125 seats. "This is unprecedented," Raut said while ruing that such a clear-cut victory for one alliance resulted in the suspicion of "dishonesty" and malpractices.

Further, Raut had expressed his mistrust of the use of the electronic voting machine, but refused to make any direct allegations. He went further and criticized the conduct of the elections, stating that a "money machine" had been stationed in every constituency to guarantee the win. Raut's stern comments insisted on the re-evaluation of the present results and further demanded the re-conduct of elections but this time using ballot papers instead of the EVMs.

This controversy on the part of the Shiv Sena leader has called for fair play in the Maharashtra election process. Further results of the Maharashtra election will depend upon the opposition, as this alliance hopes to deal with such allegations and move forward.

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