BMC poll candidate’s claim of getting ‘zero votes’ turns out false

In February this year, an independent candidate fighting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections had alleged Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering and stated that he had not got a single vote from his own polling booth, even as he had voted for himself. That claim now appears to be false.

According to an Indian Express report, Shrikant Ganpat Shirsat’s assertions have been quashed by the Deputy Election Commissioner of Maharashtra, Avinash T Sanas.

As per the officials of the state election commission, Shirsat polled 44 votes from ward number 164, which was his own ward. The EC officials also added that he was illegally enrolled in two polling stations, at booth 29 and 15. “He (Shirsat) stood for election from ward number 164 in Saki Naka. His claim had prompted an inquiry and we discovered that Shirsat is enrolled as a voter at two polling booths,” Sanas was quoted saying. “Contrary to his claim, he hasn’t got ‘zero votes’ at either of the two polling booths,” he added. Besides that, Sanas said that in his letter to the EC, Shirsat had only demanded a repoll and hadn’t suggested suspicion over not receiving a single vote from his own booth.

In fact, in an interview with Mumbai Mirror in February, Shirsat is quoted as saying “In the last assembly polls, I got 1,500 votes. Now, apparently, I have got 44, and from my booth, zero. I voted for myself, my family voted for me and so did my neighbours (on 90-feet Road in Saki Naka) — where did those votes go?.”

Shirsat’s claims are what prompted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to raise suspicion over EVMs followed by a live demonstration of it at the Delhi assembly on Tuesday. AAP also conducted a protest outside the EC yesterday which made them call off an all-party meeting which is to be held today.