MLC polls: Shiv Sena fumes as Malik & Deshmukh denied right to vote; 'murder of democracy'

Ahead of another high-stakes battle with BJP, Shiv Sena cried foul over incarcerated NCP MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh being denied the right to vote in the MLC polls. Highlighting that Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act barred undertrials from voting, the Bombay High Court turned down their plea on June 17. Penning an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Monday, it's Executive Editor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut dubbed this a "murder of democracy". On this occasion, Raut again accused BJP of having a hand in the legal woes of Malik and Deshmukh. 

Sanjay Raut remarked, "BJP not only showed its magic in invalidating the votes of Maha Vikas Aghadi in the Rajya Sabha polls by misusing the institutions in Delhi but also acted to ensure that MLAs Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik do not get the right to cast their vote. Nawab Malik and Deshmukh were denied the right to vote in the Rajya Sabha polls. These two MLAs were denied the right to vote even in the Legislative Council polls now."

"How is this correct as per any section of the Constitution? Malik and Deshmukh were falsely implicated as accused and the central investigative agencies arrested them. The allegations against them are yet to be proven and the trial has not even started. No court of law has held them guilty or sentenced them. Them being denied the right to vote even as they remain MLAs is a murder of the Constitution and democracy," the Shiv Sena MP added. 

Coming down heavily on BJP, he opined, "At the same time, Laxman Jagtap and Mukta Tilak- these two ailing MLAs who are in serious condition are brought for voting. Both these MLAs are battling cancer. It is said that they are on the ventilator but people are brought on a stretcher for the sake of votes owing to political self-interest. If BJP is so confident of victory, why these inhuman experiments?"

MLC polls in Maharashtra

A total of 10 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council are going to the polls today. The election was necessitated by the retirement of 9 members- NCP's Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar and Sanjay Daund, Pravin Darekar, Sujitsinh Thakur and Prasad Lad of BJP, Shiv Sena's Subhash Desai and Diwakar Raote, Vinayak Mete and Sadabhau Khot and the demise of BJP MLA RN Singh. Based on their current strength in the state Assembly, BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are likely to bag 4, 2, 2 and 1 seats respectively.

While Darekar and Lad have been renominated by BJP, NCP has again reposed faith in Nimbalkar who is the outgoing Legislative Council chairman. The new candidates include BJP's Ram Shinde, Uma Khapre and Shrikant Bharatiya, Shiv Sena's Sachin Ahir and Amshya Padvi, Eknath Khadse of NCP and Congress' Bhai Jagtap and former minister Chandrakant Handore. A close contest is expected between BJP and MVA for one seat. BJP, as well as Shiv Sena, have moved their MLAs to hotels in order to avert poaching attempts. In the recent RS polls, BJP managed to get all its 3 candidates elected much to the chagrin of the Sena.