Pawar, Thackeray did not campaign for MVA as planned: Congress on Maharashtra rout

The Maha Vikas Aghadi could win only 48 of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra. (File photo: PTI)

Senior Congress leader G Parameshwara has said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party were not well aligned and did not campaign as planned for candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The remark came after the Congress registered its worst ever tally in the state, winning only 16 of the 101 seats it contested in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

"We finally announced tickets in the end and there was confusion in the party. Sharad Pawar's group and Uddhav Thackeray's group were not well aligned, didn't campaign as planned, and Vidarbha did not give us many seats," Parameshwara, who was the Congress' observer for the Maharashtra polls, said.

The Congress leader further said that the Congress will be unable to win in Maharashtrra "as long as there are EVMs"

"In Maharashtra, Congress and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have done very badly. Everybody knows it. We and some of our leaders in Maharashtra sat together and analysed (it) yesterday. Ashok Gehlot and (Bhupesh) Baghel, former Chief Ministers, we sat together. The information we got is surprising that EVMs are hacked, not in every constituency but selectively. I believe they have hacked the EVMs," he added.

In the election results announced on Saturday, the Mahayuti emerged victorious in 230 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, posting the biggest victory for a pre-poll alliance in over five decades. The BJP bagged 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP 41.

The MVA, on the other hand, was restricted to 48 seats with the Congress and the Shiv Sena registering their worst tally ever. The Congress won 16 seats, the NCP(SP) 10 and the Shiv Sena won 20 seats.