Vinayak Raut has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Narayan Rane won the Lok Sabha election in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Maharashtra through fraudulent means.
Vinayak Raut, a former MP from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency and leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), wrote to the Election Commission on Wednesday alleging that his rival, BJP’s Narayan Rane, won the Lok Sabha election through fraudulent means. Raut demanded that Rane’s election in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency be set aside and he be barred from contesting and voting in elections for five years.
“The Election Commission will respond to the notice within seven days,” Raut said, adding that the victory of Narayan Rane, who was elected using corruption, will be challenged by filing a petition in the High Court.
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Raut had sent a legal notice to the EC through lawyers Asim Sarode, Kishore Warak and Shriya Aule.
The notice alleges that BJP activists were campaigning for Narayan Rane on May 6, even though the campaigning period ended on May 5. It also alleged that after the campaigning ended, a video was released in which Rane’s supporters were seen showing voters showing EVMs and asking them to vote for Rane, and distributing funds.
The notice further alleged that Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh Rane, a state assembly member, had held public meetings on April 13 and had threatened voters that if the BJP candidate did not get a lead in a particular area, they would not receive funds. “During one of the public meetings, Nitesh Rane stated that ‘If you do not get a lead as per your wishes, we will provide you with funds as per the number of votes you have in favour and will get your accounts and audited by all the village heads’. Village heads are appointed and the purpose of saying this was to mean that if you do not support the BJP candidate, then all their accounts will be cleared. Though the above statement by Nitesh Rane was made at a time when Narayan Rane’s candidature had not been declared, the Code of Election Conduct has been declared and therefore his statement may be viewed as creating an intimidating atmosphere disrupting a free and fair electoral process,” the notice alleged.
“Voting and counting of votes in many places was not conducted in a free and transparent environment. The fact that some election results were announced with the help of officials who ignored the corrupt and illegal activities of BJP people and selectively condoned corruption shows abuse of democratic institutions and should raise concern for all those who love India as a citizen,” Sarode said.
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First uploaded: 19 Jun 2024 19:21 IST
