Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray announced on Monday that his party will pursue legal action over the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat result, alleging that victory was taken from their candidate through the ‘misuse’ of official machinery.
During a press conference, Thackeray stated that a petition concerning the alleged ‘electoral malpractice’ would be filed within the next couple of days. He termed the result of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat a ‘fraud.’
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar lost to Ravindra Waikar of the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde by 48 votes.
“There is an ongoing debate on the election process and EVMs. I have already said the Election Commission is an ‘entirely compromised’ commission,” Thackeray said, as PTI reported.
He pointed out that if the election process had been ‘free and fair,’ the BJP would have won only 40 Lok Sabha seats instead of 240. “Our victory was snatched by misusing the official machinery. We will file an election petition in court, challenging the result of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat,” he added, expressing his expectation for the Election Commission to take action on its own, but if not, they would pursue and win a legal battle.
Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister Anil Parab also stated that the Election Commission of India should act on its own based on the available information and declare Kirtikar the winner. “The election result declared is suspicious. We are taking legal recourse for the misuse of official machinery under the Representation of the People Act. We are moving the court in a day or two,” he said.
Parab claimed the counting process on June 4 for the Mumbai North West seat was transparent until the 19th round, but there was no transparency afterward. “Till the 19th round, our tally was 650 votes more than the opposite candidate,” he said.
He added that all the counting agents of political parties tally the votes, and then the returning officer finalizes the number of votes counted.
Notably, the Vanrai police in Mumbai have registered a case against Waikar’s brother-in-law for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting center in Goregaon (part of Waikar’s constituency) on June 4, when the general election results were announced.
Parab said a mobile phone was used without authorization, and there is a suspicion that the seized phone might have been switched after 10 days. “A probe is also needed into the constant phone calls to the returning officer of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat. She would move away from her seat several times to talk on the phone,” he claimed.