The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has issued summons to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Bharatiya Janata Party legislators Mohan Mate and Bunty Bhangadiya, following election petitions filed by defeated Congress candidates. The petitions allege significant procedural violations during the October 2024 assembly elections.
Congress candidate Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe, who contested against Fadnavis in the Nagpur South-West constituency, filed a petition challenging the election results. Gudadhe, represented by advocate A.B. Moon, contends that the election process was marred by the Election Commission’s failure to adhere to mandatory procedures. He asserts that the commission did not issue the requisite notification for conducting elections using Electronic Voting Machines and neglected to fulfill essential pre-election formalities, thereby compromising the integrity of the electoral process.
The petition further alleges that despite requests from defeated candidates, the Election Commission did not provide access to critical documents, including CCTV footage and Form 17, which are vital for verifying the authenticity of the voting process. Additionally, although candidates paid the necessary fees for the re-counting of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails , the commission allegedly failed to conduct the mandated re-counts, raising concerns about transparency and accountability.
These allegations are part of a broader wave of legal challenges following the assembly elections. Over 60 petitions have been filed by candidates from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance bloc, including Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party , and Shiv Sena . The petitions, submitted across various benches of the Bombay High Court, cite issues such as duplicate voting, concealment of criminal records, undisclosed assets, EVM malfunctions, bribery, and a lack of transparency in the electoral process.
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