Mumbai: Anil Parab, the leader of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) in Mumbai, claimed on Thursday that voters in the Andheri (East) assembly election were being intimidated and even paid to select the NOTA (none of the above) option.
"The election commission and police have already been informed of this issue," Parab continued. The campaigning for the Andher (E) by-election stopped on Tuesday night, 48 hours before the election date, in accordance with the rules of conduct established by the elections commission.
Party shared 10 videos, photographs of money being used
While addressing the press outside a polling booth, Parab said the news of using money to get people to use NOTA has been in the media for the last couple of days.
He said, "I mentioned about in a press conference two days ago. I have sent at least ten videos and photographs to the police commissioner and have also complained to the election commission, but no action has been taken yet. The news of the arrest of some people is trending, but I don’t know under what pressure the police are. If the police investigate the videos that are shared, then the office bearers' suggestions to use money will be clearly visible."
In the Andheri by-election, the wife of two-time sitting MLA Ramesh Latke, Rutuja Latke, is contesting from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). Apart from her, Bala Nadar (Aapki Apni Party), Manoj Kumar Nayak (Right to Recall Party), Neena Khedekar (Independent), Farhan Syed (Independent), Milind Kamble (Independent), and Rajesh Tripathi (Independent) are the other six candidates fighting the election.
BJP rejects NOTA charge, belittles Latke's win
Congratulating Rutuja Latke for electoral win, BJP's Murji Patel asserted that had his party not withdrawn form the poll, it would have received at least 1,20,000 votes. Talking at his party office in Andheri MIDC's Subhash Nagar area, Mr Patel firmly rejected the Uddhav group's charge that the BJP fervently asked voters to press NOTA.
Underlining that seven parties were in support of Uddhav candidate, Mr Patel also raised eyebrows over the low voter turnout. “Around 1,90,000 voters refrained from voting. Seven political parties were in support of the Uddhav-led Sena. If the BJP would have contested it (bypoll), it would have received more than 1,20,000 votes,” he said.
Referring to the last election for the same seat, he told that the NCP got 27,000 votes and SP got 7,000 votes. “Where are these votes now,” he asked, adding that the BJP will show its strength in the upcoming BMC polls. Currently, there are five BJP corporators from Andheri East.
Meanwhile, prominent leaders from Uddhav group slammed the BJP while pressing the NOTA charge. The likes of Aaditya Thackeray, MP Arvind Sawant, party national spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, ex-minister Anil Parab and Deputy Leader in Legislative Council Dr Neelam Gorhe attacked the BJP for its “low-level dirty politics” in the bypoll.
Highlighting the BJP's "crooked dirty politics", Uddhav group chief spokesperson Sawant alleged that voters were bribed for pressing NOTA and hence minimising the chances of Ms Latke's win. “The role of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is intriguing... Despite videos of the persons giving and taking bribes for choosing the NOTA, no action was taken. Our candidate Latke was harassed at every stage, right from the beginning of the election process till now,” he said. Similarly, Congressman Sachin Sawant said if the BJP would have contested elections, it would have polled the same number of votes as the current NOTA share.
Countering the charges, BJP's Ashish Shelar said that Ms Latke couldn't get many votes despite the support of the NCP, Congress and other alliance parties. “If BJP had contested elections it would have certainly defeated (Ms Latke),” he said.
