Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Waikar. (Photo: X)
Mumbai: In a new twist to the controversy surrounding the Lok Sabha poll result of the Mumbai North-West seat, which has already seen a FIR being filed for alleged EVM hacking, has continued with one of the losing candidates appealing to the Lok Sabha secretary general not to administer oath to Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Waikar, who won the poll by mere 48 votes.
In a letter to the Lok Sabha secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh, Bharat Shah of the Hindu Samaj Party alleged there were serious malpractices and illegalities during the counting of votes on June 4. Notably, Shah secured only 937 out of the total 9,54,939 votes polled in the constituency.
“Since an FIR has been lodged for the first time in India regarding EVM machine vote counting, swearing in Ravindra Waikar under Article 99 would be allowing him to violate the constitutional process,” his letter said. Shah also mentioned that the CCTV footage of Nesco Center, a polling center in Mumbai North-West Constituency, is being deliberately avoided, which shows that the government machinery is helping Waikar under the pressure of (Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde) and the Central Government to hide the truth.
“The voting and counting conducted in the Mumbai North-West constituency was not free and fair as expected under the Representation of the People Act-1950 and was not in accordance with the Model Code of Conduct. It will be not proper to allow Ravindra Waikar to take oath of allegiance under Article 99 as a member of Parliament,” Shah said in the letter.
In the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar lost by 48 votes to Waikar of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The result has been mired in controversy after Mumbai police registered a case against Waikar’s brother-in-law for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre on June 4, when results of the general elections were announced. Later, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Vilas Potnis and a police personnel guarding him were also booked for alleged unauthorised entry into a counting centre.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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