Mumbai, Jul 16 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Amol Kirtikar on Tuesday moved the Bombay High Court challenging the Lok Sabha election victory of Ravindra Waikar, candidate of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde.
In his election petition, Kirtikar, who lost by a wafer-thin margin of 48 votes, sought to set aside Waikar's election as the Member of Parliament from the Mumbai North-West constituency, alleging lapses in the counting process.
He also sought a declaration that he was duly elected from the said constituency.
Kirtikar, son of Shiv Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar, claimed that on the counting day itself, he had filed an application seeking a recount as there was a discrepancy.
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The Sena (UBT) leader received 4,52,596 votes, while Waikar polled 4,52,644.
Kirtikar claimed there were glaring and serious lapses by elections officials deputed to carry out the counting process, and this has affected the poll results.
"The election petitioner (Kirtikar) is aggrieved on account of the improper reception of void votes cast by 333 impersonators in place of genuine voters, along with breach of rules/orders, pertaining to the counting process, by ECI officials, which has materially affected the outcome of the election results," the plea said.
It further alleged that the returning officer showed "high-handed hastiness and palpable arbitrariness" at the time of the counting of votes.
Kirtikar also sought the court to summon video recordings of the entire counting process while hearing his plea.
Kirtikar's is the second petition against Waikar's election. Last month, Bharat Shah from the Hindu Samaj Party, another candidate from the same constituency, filed a petition against the Shiv Sena leader.
His plea is yet to come up for hearing.
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