Mumbai South Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Independent Candidate Receives Threat to Withdraw Nomination, Case Registered

A case has been registered at the Cuffe Parade police station against Deepak Pawar and Vaibhav Thorat, accused of threatening Prashant Ghadge, an independent candidate from the South Mumbai constituency, to withdraw his candidature.

According to information from the Cuffe Parade police, Prashant Ghadge, a vegetable vendor, filed his nomination with the Election Commission as an independent candidate from South Mumbai. On May 6, his associate Deepak Pawar called him on his mobile, purportedly to discuss the election. Prashant Ghadge, the complainant, perceived Deepak's intentions as congratulatory for his candidacy in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Consequently, Prashant's meeting with Deepak took place outside the Maker Tower garden in road parking within half an hour.

Complainant Prashant Ghadge met Deepak between 12 pm and 12:45 pm while Deepak was engaged in a phone call. Prashant, feeling suspicious and fearful, recorded the conversation on his mobile phone for self-defense.

Deepak told Prashant, "We know you have filled out the nomination for the Lok Sabha elections, and I've been trying to meet you in this regard for the past two days, but you're not available." Deepak suggested to Prashant to withdraw his nomination by taking two lakh rupees, but Prashant rejected his proposal.

Subsequently, Prashant received a call from Vaibhav Thorat, the Shiv Sena party's secretary in South Mumbai, who also urged him to withdraw his nomination by offering two to five lakh rupees. Thorat justified his request by citing the need to avoid vote division, especially since a woman from their community had received a candidacy for the first time. Thorat invited Prashant to the office at 10 o'clock at night to discuss further if he desired more money, mentioning Yamini Jadhav.

On May 7th, Prashant Ghadge shared the audio recording of the bribe offer via WhatsApp with his friends. The following day, Deepak Pawar began calling Prashant Ghadge repeatedly. When Ghadge did not answer, Pawar visited his house, threatened him, and demanded the deletion of the viral audio clip. Prashant Ghadge saved the call recording on a pen drive and lodged a complaint at Cuffe Parade Police Station.

In response to the complaint, a case has been registered against the accused Vaibhav Thorat and Deepak Pawar at the Cuffe Parade police station.