Mumbai: Amid the row over allegations of EVM malfunctioning in the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency where Shiv Sena nominee Ravindra Waikar defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar lost by a thin margin of 48 votes, the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray will soon file a petition under the Representation of the People Act over the ‘misuse’ of government machinery, corrupt practices, and related issues.
“The court battle over Amol Kirtikar’s election defeat will begin very soon because we actually won the seat. The verdict of Mumbaikars against dictatorship is well known. However, we would like to present the technical aspects of the mess that has taken place.
“If we look at the election result, it shows the Election Commission of India is not the poll panel, but an ‘Enterally Compromised Commission’. They are working at the behest of a particular party. Despite all the mess, the INDIA bloc achieved good success in the Lok Sabha polls. Had this mess not happened, the government would have changed in Delhi,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said during a press briefing on Monday.
He also said the party would release the technical details during the court battle showing how the government machinery was misused and how Waikar was declared victorious by 48 votes.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab also claimed that Kirtikar won the elections but his victory was snatched away using government machinery.
“The Election Commission should take our complaint seriously and conduct an inquiry. It should also check the Returning Officer’s history, especially about how many corruption cases are pending against her. It is clear that the RO was working under someone’s pressure,” he alleged.
Parab also claimed that there was a lack of transparency in the counting of votes since the 19th round.
“There was a difference of 650 votes between the ARO (Assistant Returning Officer) and our votes which were not counted after the 19th round. Kirtikar was defeated by 48 votes, which is a dubious result. After the 19th round, the election process was completely abandoned,” he claimed.
Parab also said that before announcing the results, the election officials generally tell candidates and their representatives. However, this practice was not followed in the Mumbai North West constituency, he claimed.
“When we asked for CCTV footage, we were told that it would be provided within two days after the results were announced. But later they refused to provide the footage. Now they are saying that it cannot be provided as per a court order.
“We have all the information about the mobile phones used during the counting of votes, and whose calls were received on them. A case was registered after 10 days. The mobile phones were possibly changed during these 10 days,” claimed Parab.
–IANS