HC notice to Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath
‘Elected as MLA due to defects in EVMs’
Bengaluru, July 25: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath on charges of winning the Assembly election due to defect in the EVMs.
Defeated candidate John Richart Lobo filed an application against BJP MLA Kamath that the latter had won the election because of the defects in the EVMs. After hearing the argument, the court issued notices to nine others mentioned in the application and postponed the further hearing.
Questioning the victory of Kamath, Lobo said that there was a problem during counting. Moreover, Kamath’s wife had appealed the voters during the campaigning to vote her husband for the protection of Hindutva, which was a clear violation of election code of conduct. So, the election of Kamath should withhold and the Election Commission should be directed to use ballot papers in the future elections, he demanded.
Ravindranath Kamath argued in favour of Lobo.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
