Unopposed election: MNS alleges malpractices in Thane, warns of agitation

Thane, Jan 6 (PTI) The Thane unit of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday alleged that wrongful rejection of nominations of opposition candidates led to six candidates of the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde being elected unopposed in civic elections.

MNS leader Avinash Jadhav met Thane municipal commissioner and Chief Election Officer Saurabh Rao, warning of a sit-in protest inside the commissioner's office if no action was taken against two election officials.

Civic elections will be held on January 15. But the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena have claimed that some of their candidates have been elected unopposed with rival candidate withdrawing their nominations.

The two officers played a "suspicious and partisan role" in rejecting the nomination papers of opposition candidates in collusion with the ruling alliance, he claimed.

"If such practices continue, even the mayor will be elected unopposed in the next phase," Jadhav said in a statement.

Jadhav also referred to a video earlier released by the MNS, purportedly showing police presence being used to pressurise candidates to withdraw their nominations.

A detailed complaint regarding the alleged irregularities in the unopposed election process has already been submitted to the Chief Election Commissioner, but no action has been taken so far, he said.

In a statement, the Thane Municipal Corporation said commissioner Saurabh Rao assured the MNS delegation that the allegations would be looked into and a "positive decision" would be taken after due verification of records and procedures.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders MP Rajan Vichare, Kedar Dighe and Anish Gadhave, meanwhile, submitted complaints about the functioning of election officers in wards 4, 5, 7, 16, 17 and 18, claiming that nomination papers of several candidates were declared invalid during scrutiny in a dubious manner. PTI COR KRK