Rane won Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg using ‘unfair means’, hold repoll: Sena (UBT) leader writes to EC

Shiv Sena leader Vinayak Raut alleges BJP's Narayan Rane won Lok Sabha polls by fraudulent means, demands cancellation of Rane's election.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut, who lost the Lok Sabha polls from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday alleging that his rival, BJP’s Narayan Rane, won the elections by fraudulent means. Raut has demanded that Rane’s election from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat should be cancelled and he should be banned from contesting polls and voting for five years.

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A notice to the poll panel sent by Raut’s lawyer Asim Sarode alleged there was “huge manipulation, unfair/corrupt practices” by Rane, a former Union minister. It sought a reply from the ECI in the next seven days over the alleged malpractices.

A former chief minister, Rane defeated Raut by a margin of 47,858 votes, enabling the BJP to win the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat in the coastal Konkan region for the first time. “Our client Vinayak Raut is determined to fight for justice and get the election of Narayan Rane cancelled who adopted corrupt and illegal practices which are detrimental to the constitutional intent of free and fair elections,” the notice maintained.

“BJP workers were canvassing for Rane well after the campaigning officially ended in the constituency which voted on May 7. The campaigning ended at 5pm on May 5. Our client (Raut) has videos in which it can be seen that Narayan Rane’s workers were trying to bribe and intimidate the voters of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg,” states the notice.

It alleged the BJP leader’s younger son and MLA Nitesh Rane had told village sarpanches in the constituency to allocate funds on the basis of votes cast in their favour. “If Rane saheb does not win from the seat, then don’t ask for any funds for development work,” allegedly said Nitesh, according to the notice.

“In one video, BJP party worker Jadhav can be seen openly bribing the voters and asking them to vote for the BJP candidate.” states the notice.

Raut through the legal notice requested that the ECI should investigate the election of Narayan Rane, who won by using corrupt means and cheated democracy. The Central Election Commission is expected to respond to this notice within 07 days.

While speaking about the legal notice Former MP Vinayak Raut also said that besides sending the notice to ECI he will challenge the election of Rane in the High Court and will soon file a petition for it.

Advocate Asim Sarode said that it’s a matter of concern that corrupt practices were used by ruling alliance candidates in this Lok Sabha elections.

Till the time of going to press, neither Narayan Rane nor his representatives reacted to Raut’s notice.