Mumbai, March 23 -- Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday strongly condemned the alleged disruption during the election for the President of the Satara Zilla Parishad, terming it a 'grave assault on democratic values.'

According to an official statement, Shinde raised the issue during the ongoing budget session of the state legislature, expressing anger over the reported chaos and questioning the fairness of the electoral process.

"Depriving voters of their right to vote is the murder of democracy," Shinde said, calling the incident "extremely serious" and unprecedented in Maharashtra's history.

As per the statement, Shinde informed the Assembly that he had received calls from Shambhuraj Desai and Makrand Patil prio...