New Delhi: A former chief minister of Maharashtra, currently deputy chief minister in the state and an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde, has levelled serious charges of electoral malpractice ta the BJP. The Free Press Journal reports that he has “accused BJP leaders of orchestrating irregularities in the Satara Zilla Parishad polls.” He termed the police allegedly restraining persons from voting, a “murder of democracy”.The charges were levelled in the Maharashtra state Assembly, making their importance graver. Eknath Shinde said the alleged police attempt to prevent elected representatives from voting amounted to a serious offence.The Hindustan Times reports it as an “extraordinary attack on his own government.” This incident, it says, “exposes fault lines between the two alliance partners, the Shiv Sena and BJP, in the Mahayuti alliance government.”The controversy is from March 20 (Friday) when Satara voted in an election for the president of the zila parishad. The BJP’s Priya Shinde grabbed the post despite the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine having the maximum number of votes. The Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was constrained to say there would be a formal probe.The Free Press Journal reported on March 24 (Tuesday) that “despite assurances from senior officials, including director general of police (DGP) Sadanand Date, local police allegedly removed members from the premises. Shinde also flagged the suspicious timing of the police action, noting that some members were released only after voting concluded, suggesting a deliberate attempt to influence the outcome.The high-pitched political drama echoed in both Houses of the State Legislature. Responding to the uproar, Devendra Fadnavis said the government would conduct a thorough inquiry and take appropriate action based on its findings, even as the allegations continue to strain relations within the ruling alliance.”Doubts about the credibility of elections at several levels in Maharashtra and the entire election machinery in India’s second-largest state have been expressed ever since the Shiv Sena was split by flying MLAs, led by Shinde himself to Guwahati. The granting of status and symbols to the breakaway Shiv Sena and then NCP were very contested issues in the state.Shinde has stayed with the BJP-led NDA despite being demoted to deputy chief minister and the recent local elections too were marred by several controversies over how the elections were held. Chief minister Fadnavis had come out strongly to defend the Election Commission and said everything was above board.