BJP candidate who lost Parbhani civic polls by single vote moves court seeking repoll

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jan 27 (PTI) A BJP candidate who lost the municipal election in Maharashtra's Parbhani to a Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee by a single vote, has moved a local court seeking a repoll in his ward, and alleged discrepancies in the election process.

Elections to 29 municipal corporations in the state were held on January 15 and the results were declared the next day.

Vyankat Dahale, candidate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party bagged 4,312 votes in ward 1A in Parbhani, while BJP's Prasad Nagare got 4,311, a difference of just one vote, an official said.

Shiv Sena candidate Mohan Sonawane bagged 1,363 votes in the same ward, while 113 electors chose the None Of The Above (NOTA) option, he added.

Talking to a Marathi news channel, Nagare alleged discrepancies in the poll process conducted by the State Election Commission (SEC) in his ward.

"I have filed a complaint to the SEC and also moved a court here. The process conducted by the SEC had a lot of discrepancies," he alleged.

"Postal voting is a provision only for those who are on election duty...But even a grocery store owner was given the right to cast his vote through this method," he claimed, adding that he had raised objections about it.

He also alleged that his opponent's relatives voted at two poll booths.

Another BJP candidate, Datta Renge, from ward 1D, raised objections to the outcome of the poll, and approached the EC as well as the court, and alleged a mismatch in the number of votes.

"I got two result sheets on the same day and there is a difference of 246 votes in both the sheets. I have raised the objection with the SEC. We have filed a petition in the court here and demanded fresh voting in the ward," Renge said. PTI AW NP