Patole may be debarred from contesting polls

Nagpur: Congress candidate Nana Patole and some of his supporters may be debarred from contesting elections for six years for creating ruckus at counting centre and threatening the returning officer (RO) and election observer (EO). Patole also had posted a misleading tweet on a judgment passed by Nagpur bench of Bombay high court.
Kalamna police has lodged an offence against Patole and his supporters under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 135 of Maharashtra Police Act on the basis of complaint lodged by deputy collector Shridhar Rajmane.
All the persons visible in the CCTV footage submitted to Kalamna police will be debarred. Prominent among them include Congress leaders Abhijit Wanjari and Bunty Shelke and Jai Jawan Jai Kisan leader Prashant Pawar.
A source in Election Commission said that these were offences under Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, and any candidate convicted by the court for them would be debarred under Section 8(a) of the Act. “The Commission will hold a special review before the state assembly elections and urge the court to convict the accused urgently so that they can be debarred,” he added.
A source in district election office said that Patole, along with over 20 supporters, barged into RO’s chamber at the counting centre where counting of postal ballots was going on. “He created ruckus there alleging irregularities in the counting process. Other than Patole, all his supporters were not authorized to enter the counting centre. It is a major lapse on part of police to allow them entry,” he added.
The source further said that if a single postal ballot had gone missing due to the ruckus, the election would have been countermanded and re-election would have been required.
According to the officer, Patole and his supporters threatened RO and EO with dire consequences during the counting of VVPAT slips. “They also raised slogans against EC at the spot. All these are serious offences as they were trying to prevent the conduct of elections. They are against the constitutional mandate of the Commission,” he further said.
Earlier, Patole had tweeted that HC had given a decision in his favour regarding EVMs. However, the court had rejected his petition. This is an offence under Section of 171 (f) of RP Act, which deals with trying to unduly influence the elections. Police had booked him for this too.