Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena filed a complaint with the returning officer of the Election Commission raising questions over the validity of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Murji Patel’s candidature in the upcoming Andheri east bypoll, Sena leader Sandeep Naik said on Saturday.
The Thackeray-led Sena faction said that Patel’s election to the Mumbai civic body, which disqualified him, was also set aside by the Bombay high court (HC) in 2019 as he had provided an invalid caste certificate to represent a ward reserved for socially backward communities. Naik further said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had recommended to the state government that Patel should be disqualified for six years from contesting elections.
The ECI did not take any action till late Saturday, prompting party leaders to say that they would seek legal remedy over the coming days.
Team Uddhav’s candidate Rutuja Latke, and BJP nominee Patel will contest the Andheri East bypoll slated for November 3. The by-election was necessitated by the demise of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke (Rutuja’s husband) in May. This will be the first electoral fight between Thackeray and the BJP, which is in alliance with Eknath Shinde, since the latter’s rebellion that pulled down the Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in June.
Naik, who filed his candidature as a backup in case Latke’s nomination was rejected, said that he filed a complaint with the ECI demanding that Patel should not be allowed to contest the bypoll.
In 2019, the court set aside the election of four BMC corporators including Patel, his wife Kesharben from BJP, and Steffie Kini and Rajpat Yadav, both from the Congress, as they failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove their caste. All four were elected from reserved wards in 2017.
“How was his nomination accepted by the Election Commission? The order was upheld by the Bombay High Court. This has not been mentioned in his election affidavit,” Naik told reporters on Saturday.
Patel refuted the allegations saying he was not barred from contesting assembly elections. He said, “The allegations made by Naik are baseless and hence were rejected by the returning officer.”
“Sandeep Naik is making frivolous allegations as Shiv Sena is shaken with the kind of support our candidate is getting for the bypoll. Naik should come out with any evidence, if he has instead of misguiding people,” Ameet Satam BJP MLA said.
Naik, however, said that he would approach the high court as the ECI refused to take cognisance of his complaint.
The upcoming bypoll will take place in a charged political atmosphere that has seen several controversies already break out. The Shinde faction approached the ECI demanding an urgent decision on the Sena symbol following which the poll body froze the party name and its bow and arrow symbol. Both factions were accorded different names and symbols. More recently, the BMC refused to accept Latke’s resignation from the BMC, where she worked as a clerk in K-east ward, forcing her to move the high court which eventually directed the civic body to accept her resignation so that she could file her nomination. The Samata Party, which used the flaming torch symbol, urged ECI not to allot it to the Thackeray faction. It approached the Delhi high court over the issue on Saturday. A Sikh group in Nanded objected to the allotment of the swords and shield symbol allotted to Shinde’s faction on ground that it was a religious symbol.
Candidates declare assets
Murji Patel’s declares assets worth ₹13.52 crore; Latke’s wealth is around ₹9.91 crore
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Murji Patel’s wealth has increased by more than ₹4.06 crore in the last three years, according to the election affidavit filed by him for the Andheri East bypolls slated on November 3. Patel has declared assets worth ₹13.52 crore in his affidavit filed on Friday.
His contender Rutuja Latke, who is Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Uddhav Thackeray) party candidate has declared assets worth ₹9.91 crore. Latke is a graduate from NG Bedekar College of Commerce and got her degree from University of Mumbai in 1997. Patel cleared Class 9 from YJS Gujarati Nigh High School, Tardeo in 1990.
In 2019, Patel contested the state assembly elections as an independent candidate. He lost to Ramesh Latke, Rutuja’s husband, who passed away in May thus necessitating this bypoll.
Patel declaration included assets in the name of wife Kesarben Patel, dependents and inherited assets worth ₹4.25 crore. The Patels own movable assets worth ₹18.15 lakh and the family possesses two cars, Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner. They also have a 60-acre land in Kutch, Gujarat. Patel also showed liabilities of around ₹2.15 crore in the form of loans from banks and financial institutions.
Latke declared movable assets worth 68.56 lakh and immovable assets worth ₹9.23 crore in her election affidavit. Her late husband owned three cars — Mahindra Armada, Toyota Innova and Volkswagen Vento. She jointly owns a 12.35-acre land in Kolhapur. Her husband also owned a farm land measuring 7.4-acre in Kolhapur apart from a 11,700 sq ft property in Lonavla among other assets. Latke showed liabilities worth ₹2.19 crore, including a home loan of ₹15.29 lakh.
