Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Vinayak Raut, the former MP from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, moved the Bombay High Court on Friday seeking cancellation of the election of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Narayan Rane from the constituency, reported The Indian Express.
A former chief minister, Rane defeated Raut by a margin of 47,858 votes in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat in the coastal Konkan region for the first time.
Raut has alleged that Rane had won the Lok Sabha elections on June 4 by “fraudulent means”, the newspaper reported.
The Opposition leader has also demanded that Rane be banned from contesting elections and voting for five years.
Raut has asked the High Court to issue directions to the Election Commission to conduct fresh elections for the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat.
While the plea is pending in court, Raut has sought direction to restrain Rane from continuing as the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP.
Last month, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader had also written to the Election Commission seeking repoll in the constituency as he accused Rane of resorting to “corrupt and illegal practices”, reported PTI.
The letter had claimed that BJP workers were canvassing for Rane well after the campaigning period had officially ended in the constituency, which voted on May 7. The campaigning ended at 5 pm 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,” a notice from the Opposition leader’s lawyer contended.
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