On Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated that the opposition was attempting to disseminate false information and that the claims that an EVM was tampered with by a Shiv Sena MP’s family were untrue.
Shinde’s statement coincided with claims of electoral malpractice by Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar in the Mumbai NorthWest seat, where Waikar defeated Waikar by a mere 48 votes. Additionally, Waikar’s cousin was charged with a felony on June 4 for using a cell phone at a Goregaon counting centre. Mobile phone use is prohibited at counting centres per regulations.
“Some people are trying to spread misinformation about the tampering of the EVM, which is completely lie and police will give explanation about it. The opposition won so many seats, but there is no problem. Why are questions being raised about the outcome of only Mumbai North West constituency and not any other result in the state? Is it because my candidate, Waikar, won and the Opposition lost?” Eknath Shinde asked.
“The truth is people of the constituency have taken the decision to make Ravindra Waikar win the election. Out of 19 per cent of Shiv Sena’s vote share, we got 14 per cent. People voted for bow and arrow. UBT has a winning strike rate of 42 per cent, and we have a strike rate of 48 per cent. So they have lost their confidence and are making false allegations,” Eknath Shinde said.
In Mumbai, Shinde asserted that his party’s candidates outperformed those of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), of which Sena (UBT) is a member.
Meanwhile, Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, refuted the report saying EVM was a standalone system with “robust administrative safeguards” to protect it from any kind of manipulation and that there was no need for an OTP to unlock it.
“It is not programmable and has no wireless communication capabilities. It is a complete lie being spread by a newspaper. We have issued a notice to mid-day newspapers under sections 499, 505 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation and spreading false news,” Suryavanshi said at a press conference on Sunday.
Mangesh Pandilkar, Waikar’s brother-in-law, was charged on Wednesday with violating section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (disobeying official order) for allegedly using a cell phone at a Goregaon counting centre on June 4, the day the general election results were revealed. During the press conference, Suryavanshi stated that action is being taken in response to the discovery of one Dinesh Gurav’s personal cell phone in the possession of an unauthorised individual. Gurav is the data entry operator for the Jogeshwari assembly constituency.
