Maharashtra: Another NCP Sharad Pawar Candidate Withdraws EVM Verification Application After Yugendra Pawar, Reveals Reason

NCP leader Sharad Chandra Pawar's candidate from Baramati, Yugendra Pawar, has withdrawn his application for an EVM recount, a move now mirrored by another defeated candidate. Prajakt Tanpure, who lost in Rahuri, initially sought verification of EVM data due to concerns about voting at certain polling stations. However, since VVPAT votes will not be counted in this process, he has submitted a request to the district administration to withdraw his application and will receive a refund of his fees.

Candidates who finished second and third in assembly constituencies have a seven-day window post-results to request EVM verification. Following the result announcement on November 23, candidates from ten of the twelve constituencies in the district submitted applications to the District Election Officer and District Collector by November 30. These applications included requests from Balasaheb Thorat (Sangamner 14), Prabhawati Ghogre (Shirdi 2), Prof. Ram Shinde (Karjat-Jamkhed), Shankarrao Gadakh (Newasha), Rani Lanka (Parner), Sandeep Seri (Kopargaon), Pratap Dhakne (Pathardi-Shevgaon), Abhishek Kalamkar (Ahmednagar), and Rahul Jagtap (Srigondya). Candidates paid a total of Rs 47,200 per requested verification machine, but Tanpure chose to withdraw his request upon realizing that VVPAT votes would not be counted. His application is now canceled, and he will be refunded.

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The fee refund process will be initiated since the fee was paid to the government treasury and Tanpure’s earlier application was sent to the State Election Commissioner's Office. His new request will be forwarded to the Election Commissioner, and the refund will occur after the Commission's decision. Tanpure had raised concerns about the EVMs at five centers and paid Rs 2,36,000 for the verification, expecting validation of the memory and data accuracy from those locations.