However, members from the Opposition parties including the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) decided not to take oath and walked out of the House.

“The MVA’s elected candidates did not take oath today in the Assembly. This is our protest against the murder of democracy at the hands of the Election Commission of India and the government. Markadwadi village had planned a mock poll by means of paper ballot, only to reassure themselves about the voting pattern. The administration imposed a curfew against those fighting for democracy. Although not much would have changed in terms of government formation officially, the truth would have come to light. Yet, villagers of Markadwadi in our democratic country were under siege,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray said after walking out of the House.

He claimed villagers of Markadwadi were arrested for planning the mock polls by ballot paper and termed it a mockery of democracy. “This is a mockery of democracy and it is apparent that the government is scared of democracy by fair means. They use the election commission to prevent the truth from coming out to the world. We will fight for our democratic rights. We want to know the truth. We are the elected ones, and will voice the doubts of people about EVMs. This mandate is that of the election commission and the EVMs, not that of Maharashtra. Let mock polls happen across Maharashtra, on ballot paper,” he demanded.

“Despite the BJP alliance forming the government after the Assembly elections, the public sentiment is that this government does not reflect their votes. It is not a government of the people’s mandate. The sentiment of the people in Markadwadi mirrors that of the majority in the state. Respecting public opinion, members of the MVA have decided not to take their oath today,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said.

Patole said MVA leaders would meet NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to draw up the next strategy. “The BJP-led alliance government is not the people’s government. After coming to power through vote theft, they wasted crores of rupees on an extravagant swearing-in ceremony at Azad Maidan. Meanwhile, suicides among youth and farmers have increased, with 773 farmers ending their lives in the Nagpur region alone. Yet, the BJP alliance remains indifferent and chose to celebrate their government formation lavishly,” he added.

“The responsibility to protect democracy and voting rights lies with us,” Patole said. He emphasised Congress’ resolve to spread the spark ignited in Markadwadi across the nation. Discussions with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have already been held, and preparations for a movement demanding ballot paper voting are underway in Delhi. Once everything is in place, a decision will be made to make the Markadwadi incident a nationwide movement, he said.

Commenting on the Income-Tax department returning Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s seized assets worth Rs 1,000 crore, Patole said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Na khaunga, na khane dunga’ does not apply to his own people. This is an attempt to cover up the corrupt dealings of leaders allied with the BJP.”