Shiv Sena (UBT) to seek legal recourse over Mumbai North West LS seat result

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday said his party will seek legal recourse over the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat result, claiming victory was snatched from their candidate by "misuse" of the official machinery.

Addressing a press conference here, Thackeray said a petition regarding the "electoral malpractice" will be filed in the court in a day or two.

He termed as "fraud" the result of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat, where Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar lost by 48 votes to rival Ravindra Waikar of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

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

He claimed that if the election process was "free and fair", the BJP would have won only 40 Lok Sabha seats and not 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 said.

Thackeray also said his party expects the EC to take suo motu (on its own) action, otherwise they will fight a legal battle and win.

Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister Anil Parab also said the Election Commission of India should take suo motu action based on the information available and declare Kirtikar as 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 fine till the 19th round but there was no transparency after that.

"Till the 19th round, our tally was 650 votes more than the opposite candidate," he said.

All the counting agents of political parties tally the number of votes and the returning officer then finalises the number of votes counted, Parab said.

"The returning officer and the counting agents were seated far from each other where the tally of votes wasn't possible because of the distance. Forms 17 C and 17 C part 2, which account for the number of votes polled, were not given to many candidates...there was a difference of 650 votes in our tally and that of the assistant returning officer till the 19th round," he claimed.

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 centre in Goregaon (which is part of Waikar's constituency) on June 4, when results of the general elections were announced.

Parab said a mobile phone was used in an unauthorised manner and there is a doubt that the seized phone may have been changed 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 phone," he claimed.