NCP says returning officers favoured BJP, Sena candidates

The NCP alleges returning officers favored BJP and Shiv Sena in civic polls, citing rule violations. They plan to approach the Election Commission and courts.

MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has raised serious concerns over the actions of returning officers in some wards, claiming they favoured BJP and Shiv Sena candidates. The NCP, a partner of the BJP and Sena in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state, is not contesting the civic polls with its state-level allies.

NCP says returning officers favoured BJP, Sena candidates

Former minister Nawab Malik, who heads the election campaign of the NCP for the civic elections, on Friday cited three instances where returning officers allegedly accepted nomination forms from BJP and Sena candidates in violation of the rules.

In one instance, he claimed, the BJP candidate from ward 151 did not submit a caste validity certificate. The one he submitted was that of his father, and that too was allegedly obtained from Rajasthan, not Maharashtra.

“Despite this, his nomination was accepted. The returning officer argued that the decision was taken based on an affidavit filed by the candidate in which he confirmed that he possessed a caste certificate,” Malik said.

“In ward 119, the Shiv Sena candidate is a BMC vendor and, under the law, a vendor cannot contest the municipal elections,” Malik said. “Evidence was submitted which included his bank statement but the returning officer ignored everything.”

Stating that the NCP would approach the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) against these returning officers, Malik added that the party may also move court in these three cases.

Meanwhile, the senior NCP leader declared that his party would be able to appoint a mayor in Mumbai after the poll results. “With just one seat, if a party can appoint a chief minister in Jharkhand, then the NCP can certainly stake a claim to the mayor’s post in Mumbai, with 30 seats,” Malik said, expressing confidence that his party would win at least 30 of the 94 seats t is contesting in the BMC elections.