Congress to Move EC Against CM Devendra Fadnavis for Poll Code 'Violation'

Mumbai, Jun 4: The Congress will tomorrow knock the door of the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking action against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly violating the code of conduct while campaigning for the May 28 bypoll to the Palghar Lok Sabha seat.

Fadnavis, while canvassing for his party BJP, had on May 20 promised to exclude 29 villages from the jurisdiction of the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC), which is part of Palghar district, the Congress has said.

The announcement amounted to "violation" of the model code of conduct, the main Opposition party has said. State Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant also accused the ruling BJP of misusing power during the by-election to the tribal-reserved seat located adjoining Mumbai.

BJP's Rajendra Gavit won the by-election, defeating his nearest rival Shrinivas Wanaga of the Shiv Sena by 29,572 votes. Gavit polled 2,72,782 votes, while Wanaga bagged 2,43,210.

Damodar Shingda of the Congress finished a distant fifth with 47,714 votes.

"We are going to complain to the ECI against the chief minister demanding action against him for violating the code of conduct. The ruling party misused power during the by-election.

"We also want the ECI to act against officials who did not act on our initial complaint in this connection," Sawant told PTI over the phone. Chandrakant Dube, an election agent of Congress candidate Shingda, had on May 23 filed a complaint against Fadnavis with the returning officer (RO). The party had also submitted a recording of Fadnavis' speech to the RO. The by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga.