Shiv Sena Accuses BJP of Manipulating Assembly Election Results

Political controversies erupted across the country after the results of the assembly elections were announced. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray group), in an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana, alleged, "The result of the polls came exactly as the BJP had planned." The party claimed that a certain "pattern" was used in this election, which had an impact not only in West Bengal but also in Assam and Tamil Nadu. The editorial directly referred to the "Modi-Shah pattern," and said that the results of the polls were manipulated through this strategy. The Shiv Sena called the recent success of the Bharatiya Janata Party a "game changer," but alleged that it was not done in a normal process. In West Bengal, in particular, they claimed that unusual steps were taken to defeat the Trinamool Congress, which won three consecutive terms under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. The editorial also questioned the role of the Election Commission. Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's role, claiming that his actions were directly suspicious of the BJP's role in the matter. Similar allegations were made about the removal of nearly 3 lakh central officers from the electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.