Opposition voices concerns after Ravindra Waikar's narrow victory by 48 votes in the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. Questions have been raised about the legitimacy of Waikar's win in the Lok Sabha elections due to issues of transparency and legality during the vote counting process. Bharat Shah, the candidate from the Hindu Samaj Party in the North West Constituency, has urged that Waikar should not be sworn in as an MP amidst these controversies. A formal notice has been sent to Lok Sabha General Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh through Asim Sarode.
As per Adv. Asim Sarode, the notice points out the rare situation where an FIR has been filed in India concerning the vote counting process through EVM machines. It suggests that making Ravindra Vaikar a Member of Parliament under Article 99 could be viewed as endorsing a violation of the constitutional process. Additionally, the notice stresses the importance of upholding the oath-taking process in line with the constitutional spirit, despite the lack of similar demands in the past. An FIR was lodged by the police following allegations that a candidate's relative was present at the vote counting location with a mobile phone connected to the EVM machine, leading to ongoing investigations.
While there have been discussions about potential manipulation of the EVM voting process in some constituencies to favor the BJP, this marks the first instance of an FIR being filed in this context. Bharat Shah of the Hindu Samaj Party has directly appealed to Lok Sabha General Secretary Utpal Singh to halt the swearing-in of Ravindra Waikar, whose election has been called into doubt.
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Additionally, in the Mumbai North-West Constituency, there appears to be a deliberate avoidance of the CCTV footage from the Nesco Center. Bharat Khimji Shah has noted that this conduct implies that government resources are being used to support Ravindra Waikar, possibly under the influence of Eknath Shinde and the central government, to hide the truth. Bharat Khimji Shah plans to file an election petition in the High Court to challenge what seems to be a clear case of using corrupt and illegal means to secure victory in the election.