Asserting that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not upset with the Maharashtra unit, NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Saturday accused the Mahayuti of spreading fake news over the issue of seat-sharing in the state.

Deshmukh mentioned that meetings between leaders of Congress in Maharashtra, including Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole, and Vijay Wadettiwar, and representatives of NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), went well.

“Rahul Gandhi is not upset. Leaders like Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar all had meetings with leaders of NCP-SCP and Shiv Sena (UBT). We had taken the decision regarding seat sharing based on merit,” the NCP(SP) leader said.

He further clarified that the decision on seat sharing was made based on merit, countering the false information being spread by Opposition parties. Deshmukh also dispelled the notion that Rahul Gandhi was upset with the state leaders.

“Opposition parties are spreading false information. It is not true that Rahul Gandhi is upset with leaders in the State,” he said.

Furthermore, in preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Congress released its second list of 23 candidates on Saturday.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has concluded talks on sharing seats in 255 constituencies, with each party planning to contest 85 Assembly constituencies, as informed by Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole.

On the same day, the BJP released a list of 40 star campaigners, including prominent party leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The other leaders from the saffron party — Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Pramod Sawant were in the list.

The list also includes names of prominent leaders from the State — Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Vinod Tawde, Narayan Rane, Pankaja Munde, Chandrakant (Dada) Patil, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ashish Shelar, Udayan Raje Bhonsle, Raosaheb Danve Patil, Ashok Chavan, Sudhir Mugantiwar, Navneet Rana, among others.

The Opposition on Friday accused the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government of being allegedly getting the names of voters removed from the electoral rolls leaning towards the opposition parties, ahead of the State Legislative Assembly elections.

Addressing a conference, leaders of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) claimed there is no transparency in the functioning of the Election Commission (ECI), and its officers are working under pressure from the ruling parties. They said the MVA would raise the issue with the ECI.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and other leaders have called for the removal of the State Director General of Police, Rashmi Shukla, to ensure the forthcoming elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.

Patole alleged that the Election Commission of India’s “Form no. 7”, which is intended to delete names from the voters’ list for various reasons, is being misused to remove the names of voters leaning towards opposition parties.

He accused CM Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of orchestrating this activity.

Patole further elaborated that names of voters inclined towards the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) are being deliberately deleted from the voters’ list to achieve a political advantage. He firmly stated that this practice is motivated by the fear of the BJP losing in the elections.

Vijay Wadettiwar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, expressed concern and urged the Election Commission not to accept “Form no. 7”, highlighting that constituencies where the MVA gained a lead in the Lok Sabha elections witnessed the removal of 2,500 to 10,000 voters from the list. The deletion of such a significant number of voters appears to be a deliberate move to influence the election results.

Ambadas Danve, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Opposition leader in the Council, raised alarm about the missing names of 6,000 voters in the Nashik Central assembly seat and asserted that similar issues were faced despite bringing them to the attention of the collector.

This was also observed in Aurangabad Central and Sillod seats, where approximately 27,000 voters were added to the electoral rolls, creating disparities in the voters’ list.

NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad demanded greater transparency and accountability, proposing that the EC should publish a white paper on the voters’ list. He criticised the poor print quality of the voters’ list, highlighting that discrepancies in names, addresses, and photos were inaccurately portrayed, leading to skepticism about the electoral process.

Nana Patole, continuing his plea, urged the Commission to cancel the appointment of 50,000 “yojana doots” who are employed to promote government welfare programs. He alleged that these individuals, paid Rs 50,000, are privately affiliated with the RSS and BJP, indicating a partisan approach in the execution of the election campaign.

Assembly polls in the state will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23.

Nayab Singh Saini was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Haryana on Thursday, marking his second term, after BJP secured an unprecedented third term in the state.  Nayab Saini’s council of ministers also took oath at the high-profile ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leaders.

Governor of Haryana, Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nayab Saini. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Dussehra Ground in Panchkula, amidst the presence of Union Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, as well as chief ministers from National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states.

CM Saini walked on stage at the swearing-in ceremony with his predecessor and mentor Manohar Lal Khattar by his side. After Nayab Saini, Senior BJP leader and MLA Anil Vij, who was rumoured to be in the running for Chief Minister, took oath as a minister in the Saini 2.0 Cabinet.

Notably, Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers, including the Chief Minister in the cabinet. Beside Anil Vij, Krishan Lal Panwar, Rao Narbir Singh, Mahipal Dhanda, Vipul Goel, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Shruti Choudhry, Shyam Singh Rana, Ranbir Singh Gangwa, Krishan Bedi, Gaurav Gautam, Arti Singh Rao, and Rajesh Nagar also took oath as ministers.

After replacing former CM Manohar Lal Khattar as Chief Minister, Saini steered the BJP to a historic victory in the Haryana Assembly elections. The BJP won 48 seats in the 90-member house, ensuring its third straight term in power in the state.

The Dalit leader, who contested and won the Ladwa seat in Kurukshetra district, was unanimously elected the BJP’s legislature party leader in Haryana on Wednesday. The BJP leader then met Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and staked a claim to form the next government in the state.

Nayab Saini, the BJP’s prominent OBC face in Haryana, previously served as the Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra. He made his electoral debut in 2010 but won his first Assembly seat in 2014 from Narayangarh, joining the Khattar Cabinet. Later in October 2023, he was appointed Haryana BJP chief.