Maharashtra polls: Five INDIA candidates move Bombay High Court against Mahayuti victories

After their defeat in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls, five candidates from parties under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) fold have filed petitions before the Bombay High Court challenging the victories of rival Mahayuti candidates. .The candidates who have approached the Court are Manohar Krishna Madhavi, Prashant Sudam Jagtap, Mahesh Kothe, Naresh Ratan Manera and Sunil Chandrakant Bhusara.They have sought annulment of the election results in the contested constituencies.The petitioners have alleged misconduct in the polls including duplicate voting, concealed criminal cases, asset concealment, EVM malfunctions, bribery and lack of election transparency.Madhavi, a Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate who contested from the Airoli constituency, lost to BJP's Ganesh Chandra Naik. In his petition, Madhavi has alleged that both Naik and the Election Commission acted maliciously by allowing duplicate voting entries and the misuse of electoral polls, enabling individuals to vote multiple times during the elections.Jagtap, a Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar (NCP SP) candidate who contested from the Hadapsar constituency in Pune has challenged the election victory of Chetan Vitthal Tupe, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate belonging to the Ajit Pawar faction. Jagtap's petition claims that Tupe deliberately concealed criminal cases against him and failed to disclose his income details in violation of Section 125A of the Representation of People Act, 1951..Kothe, another NCP (SP) candidate from the Solapur North constituency, has challenged the election result where BJP's Vijaykumar Deshmukh emerged victorious. As per Kothe's petition, Deshmukh concealed immovable properties and other assets thereby, breaching election rules. The petition has also claimed that the returning officer improperly accepted the nominations.Manera, a Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from the Ovala-Majiwda constituency, has disputed the election victory of Pratap Baburao Sarnaik, an NCP (AP) MLA and the current transport minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. The petition has made allegations regarding the EVM-VVPAT system at one polling booth, which allegedly contributed to Sarnaik's victory. The petition has further criticized the overall conduct of the election process.Bhusara, another NCP (SP) candidate from the Vikramgad constituency, has contested the victory of BJP's Harishchandra Sakharam Bhoye. As per Bhasura's plea, Bhoye engaged in corrupt practices including bribery to secure his win, undermining the Representation of People Act. Additionally, the petition has claimed that there was a refusal to provide Form 17-C and CCTV footage and this limited transparency during the elections.All the petitions have been filed through advocates Asim Sarode and Ajinkya Gaikwad.