Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT has declared that it will file a lawsuit about the outcomes of the recently held Lok Sabha election in the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency, where the Shinde Sena's Ravindra Waikar defeated Amol Kirtikar, the party's nominee, by a mere 48 votes.
Leader of the Shiv Sena UBT Aaditya Thackeray claimed that the BJP would not have won even 40 seats if electronic voting machines had not been used on Monday, stating that the party would pursue legal action against the results in the constituency, as reported by The Indian Express. The Shiv Sena UBT is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the INDIA alliance, the Wire reported.
Sanjay Nirpuam, the leader of the Shiv Sena (Shinde group), retaliated by claiming that Aaditya Thackeray and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi have to apologise for spreading misleading information regarding EVMs.
Kirtikar and two independent candidates had already reported Waikar's brother-in-law Mangesh Pandilkar's presence inside the counting station, leading the Vanrai police station in Mumbai to file an FIR in the case. In the case, Pandilkar is listed as an accused.
The police, however, maintain that the initial information report was made solely under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code for ‘disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant’ and has nothing to do with his interference with the functioning of an EVM.
Waikar and Kirtikar battled it out closely for the most part on the counting day, with a margin of less than 100 votes. After the EVM counting, Kirtikar was leading by just one vote at around five o'clock. At 6.30 pm Waikar requested a recount of the rejected ballot votes. Soon after the Returning Officer gave his permission, Waikar had a 48-vote lead.
The Returning Officer was then approached by both candidates to request a recounting of the 111 invalid or rejected postal ballot ballots. After the returning officer consented to recounting in front of the cameras, Waikar was ultimately proclaimed the winner.