Thackeray urges Mamata to attend rally in Mumbai to support ballots in polls
Kolkata: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday met Trinamool Congress supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna and requested her to attend the MNS rally in Mumbai on August 21 in support of reintroducing ballot paper during elections.
During the meeting, Thackeray sought support from Banerjee who has organised a rally on July 21 on the same lines. She had given a clarion call to replace the present format of elections with ballots, which was later supported by various Opposition parties, including Congress. Wednesday's meeting was also significant in the context of the state elections in Maharashtra, which is likely to be held in October.
It may be mentioned here that MNS did not contest the Lok Sabha elections, but Thackeray had addressed rallies against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
After the meeting, Thackeray told the reporters: "We have to fight together to save democracy. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, there were irregularities. We came to know that in around 370 constituencies, the EVMs had malfunctioned. The rest of the world has abandoned the EVMs. The Bengal Chief Minister has also held a rally here in the city, placing a similar demand. We will take out a similar rally in Mumbai on August 21 and therefore urge her to attend the programme."
"Earlier, I also met Sonia Gandhi in this regard. We requested the Election Commission to conduct elections using ballot papers. Mamata Banerjee has been on a relentless stride to restore democracy in the country. We all need to put up a united fight towards this direction," the MNS chief said.
Speaking to the reporters, the Chief Minister said at Nabanna: "Thackeray requested me to go to Mumbai to join the MNS rally on August 21, the basic premise of which is similar to the message we had delivered during our rally on July 21. I could not assure him whether I will be able to visit his place as I have to check if I have some other preoccupations on that day. I have listened to what he intended to say. He is also concerned as to how the democracy in the country can be saved. The main objective of MNS rally is also the reintroduction of ballot papers during elections."
Around 23 Opposition parties had moved the Election Commission ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, urging it to conduct elections in ballot papers but the demand had been rejected. Taking a dig at BJP, Banerjee said: "Like other states, they predicted how many seats they would get in Maharashtra before the election result was out. Who would believe them, if this is the situation in the country? The countries like Japan, UK and USA do not use EVMs during elections. Why should we accept the EVM when we all know the truth?"
