Waikar should be stopped from taking oath as LS member: Raut amid row over poll result

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Waikar should be stopped from taking oath as the Lok Sabha 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 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.

Speaking to reporters here, 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.

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.

Raut, without taking any name, claimed a relative of 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.

Raut also targeted the state government over the case of a relative of Waikar allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre.

"Forensic labs in the state are part of the home department, headed by 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 Sunday over EVM tampering claims with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of 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.