Mumbai: After nomination issues for BMC polls, candidates fight it out in court

There will be no BJP candidate from ward 7D in Pune as the Bombay High Court today stayed the order of the returning officer, who had granted the symbol of lotus to Reshma Bhosle, wife of political leader Anil Bhosle from the area.

Reshma had filed her nomination as an NCP candidate from the ward. However, on the same day she also filed an affidavit saying that she should be considered a BJP candidate.

Another candidate Satish Bahirat had also filed his nomination as a BJP candidate but he later withdrew his nomination for Reshma.

Datta Bahirat, a Congress candidate from the same ward had knocked the doors of Bombay High Court asking how can one party have two candidates on the date of filing the AB form.

Datta's lawyer Anil Anturkar told the division bench headed by Justice Naresh Patil that on February 4, the scrutiny of forms was done and in doing so since there were two candidates from the BJP, both were declared as independent. "After this the election officer sent a letter to municipal commissioner who immediately replied back to the election officer that Reshma should be considered a BJP candidate," said Anturkar.

EC FAVOURING BJP

Anturkar argued that when the election officer has decided that a candidate is independent, then he has no business asking the municipal commissioner about such things. He alleged, "If I can just put it bluntly, the election commission of Maharashtra is favouring the BJP."

Also read: BMC polls: BJP confident of winning election, securing Mayor's post

Advocate SB Shete, representing the state election commission, was asked by the court as to what he had to say in the light of such allegations. Shete said, "I will have to take instructions as to why and how it has been done."

Shete told the court that nothing can be done on the issue now as the election schedule cannot be disturbed.

Reshma's lawyers too argued in the court but the went ahead with an interim stay on the second order of returning officer, that had declared Reshma a BJP candidate.

The petition has not been disposed off and will be heard at length later. However, Reshma will now have to be treated as an independent candidate.

Meanwhile, many more candidates had approached the Bombay High Court to seek some immediate relief after their forms were rejected by the election officer, so that they could fight the election. However, the court refused to grant them any relief.

One such case was that of Kurla Barve who wanted to contest elections from 167 ward in Kurla (west) Mumbai on an NCP ticket. Proposer was her husband Rajendra Barve, a rickshaw driver. Barve said, "I was filing for the first time, so had told the election officer to let me know what all has to be done. He did not tell me that my husband's signature was needed due to which my form was rejected on the same day. I think there is someone conspiring against me so that I don't contest this election."

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