MP Sanjay Raut on June 17 said Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Waikar should be stopped from taking oath as the member, amid a controversy after he won the Mumbai North West seat by a thin margin of 48 votes.
The Vanrai police in Mumbai have registered a case against Mr. Waikar’s brother-in-law for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre in Goregaon (which is part of Mr. Waikar’s constituency) on June 4, when results of the general elections were announced.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Raut said, “Waikar’s electoral victory is under suspicion, and a complaint has already been filed at the Vanrai police station in Mumbai. Due to the ongoing controversy surrounding the poll outcome, Waikar should be prevented from taking oath as a member of the Lok Sabha. “It would be a true display of democracy if he is stopped from being a Lok Sabha member until the investigation is concluded,” he added.
Mr. Waikar, candidate of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, defeated Amol Kirtikar of the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray by 48 votes on June 4.Mr. Raut, without taking any name, claimed a relative of Mr. Waikar made frequent visits to the Vanrai police station before the counting day and sought to know the purpose of it. “Why did he go there? Was he trying to broker some deal? The details should be revealed, or else I will expose them,” the Rajya Sabha member said.Mr. Raut also targeted the State
government over the case of a relative of Mr. Waikar allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre.
Forensic labs in the State are part of the Home Department, headed by the BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. If blood samples of the Pune Porsche car accident (accused) can be tampered with, one can imagine what could happen to a phone and its data in police custody,” he said.
A fresh political slugfest erupted on June 16 over EVM tampering claims with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of Mr. Waikar was found using a mobile phone “connected” to an electronic voting machine during the counting of votes on June 4.
However, Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of the constituency, dismissed the report as “false news” and asserted that the EVM is a standalone system, not programmable and has no wireless communication capabilities.
The BJP hit out at the Opposition leaders over the issue and demanded that the Election Commission should prosecute all those who “amplified the lie” by sharing the news report.
Pandilkar was booked under Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobeying official order), the official added.
Ravindra Waikar, a Shiv Sena candidate, won the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by 48 votes.
Kin used phone to unlock EVM?
A report emerged on Sunday, claiming that Mangesh Pandilkar was using the phone, which was connected to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Mid-day cited police as saying that this mobile phone was used for generating the OTP that unlocked the EVM machine.
The incident reportedly occurred inside the NESCO Centre during the counting of votes for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat on June
4. per the report, the police sent the mobile phone to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to find the mobile phone data and call records. “We are also checking if the mobile phone was used for any other reason,” Vanrai police official was quoted by Mid-day as saying.
A clip of the Mid-day article went viral on Sunday, which many opposition leaders questioning the “transparency in our electoral process”.What Opposition is sayingCongress leader Rahul Gandhi said the EVMs in India are a “black box,” and “nobody is allowed to scrutinise them”. He posted on X, “ Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability.”Meanwhile, the Congress raised a few other questions in connection with the allegations against the Ravindra Waikar’s relative'”Why was the mobile phone of a relative of the NDA candidate connected to the EVM? How did the mobile phone reach the place where votes were being counted?” the Congress asked on X.