Congress wants action against Maharashtra CM for violating poll code of conduct in Palghar

A delegation, led by party’s general secretary Sachin Sawant, alleged that the BJP candidate from Palghar spent around Rs1.5 crore, bypassing the expenditure limit .

The state Congress on Tuesday met chief election commissioner OP Rawat in Delhi on Tuesday to demand action against chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for “violating the model code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha bypolls in Maharashtra on May 28”.

In the complaint, the party cited “the CM’s announcement to woo Palghar voters” and his advice to his workers to win the elections “by hook or by crook”. (HT File Photo)

The delegation, led by party’s general secretary Sachin Sawant, alleged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Palghar Rajendra Gavit spent more than ₹1.5 crore, bypassing the expenditure limit set by the commission. The delegation said the state election machinery was under pressure from the ruling party because of which they didn’t act on the Opposition’s complaints.

In the complaint, the party cited “the CM’s announcement to woo Palghar voters” and his advice to his workers to win the elections “by hook or by crook”. “The person holding the highest political position is expected to respect the constitutional authority of the Election Commission (EC) and its code of conduct. The CM violated the code by announcing exclusion of 29 villages from the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation, waiving Khavati loans given to tribals and allotment of a medical college for the area. We have submitted copies of the FIRs lodged against BJP workers for distributing money among voters. We have also demanded a probe into the excessive expenditure by Gavit,” Sawant said, adding Rawat has promised appropriate action.