Aaditya Thackeray to move court amid EVM row: 'Poll body compromised entity'

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday said his party would challenge the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha seat result in court, alleging that their candidate Amol Kirtikar’s victory was undermined by ‘misuse’ of official machinery.

Addressing a press conference, Aaditya Thackeray said, "There is an ongoing debate on the election process and EVMs. I have already said the Election Commission is an 'entirely compromised' commission."

"The BJP would not have won even 40 seats without misuse of power. However, 243 seats won by them are due to malpractices in the election process," Aaditya Thackeray added.

He said UBT Sena is preparing to file a petition against the alleged misconduct and malpractices at the counting centre.

Aaditya Thackeray's remark came amid Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar's allegations of foul play in Mumbai North West constituency where Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Waikar won by just 48 votes and an FIR against Waikar's relative for using a mobile phone at a counting centre in Goregaon on June 4. As per the rules, the use of mobile phones is restricted at counting centres.

The political slugfest has erupted over allegations of EVM hacking in the Mumbai northwest Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

Another UBT Sena leader, Advocate Anil Parab, has levelled series of allegations which escalated the issue and raised serious concerns over the credibility of the Election Commission.

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIONS RAISED?

Form 17c and 17 c (part 2) meant to determine the total tally of the votes cast, are not distributed to everyone in the counting centre. Hence, there is a difference of 650 votes between the total tallies of votes recorded.

The distance between assistant returning officer and our counting agents is much more than normal. Therefore, we could not see the number of votes recorded by them.

It took nearly 10 days to record an FIR on the complaint raised by other independent candidates regarding a kin of a winning candidate carrying a mobile inside a prohibited area.

EC officials denied access to CCTV footage citing reasons for sealing it and seeking permission from court.

However, Shinde Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam hit back at the allegations, stating a fake narrative was being created to mislead common people.

Similarly, Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde also questioned how the Opposition did not object to the EVMs in the constituencies where their candidates won.

Both the ruling and opposition alliance are up in arms over the issue raked up after the Lok Sabha poll results. However, the face off just seems to be the beginning of heated political temperature ahead of upcoming assembly polls in the state.