Baramati returning officer gives clean chit to Ajit Pawar on "Fund for Vote" remark

Baramati Returning officer Kavita Dwivedi filed a report to the Chief Election Officer Maharashtra on Thursday, saying that prima facie there is a violation of the code of conduct found in Maharashtra DCM Ajit Pawar's Fund for Vote Remark.

Baramati Returning officer Kavita Dwivedi filed a report to the Chief Election Officer Maharashtra on Thursday, saying that prima facie there is a violation of the code of conduct found in Maharashtra DCM Ajit Pawar's Fund for Vote Remark. NCP SCP had filled a complaint with Election commision after Ajit Pawar had made the comments during a public meeting at Indapur town in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, where he had said "we will help you with as many funds as you want. But if we are giving funds, we expect you to press the button next to our candidate's symbol in the election so that I will feel good about giving funds".

Reacting on the complaint, Baramati Returning officer Kavita Dwivedi said, "Acting on the complaint received from NCP SCP we had launched an enquiry and also sent a notice to the DCM Ajit Pawar to give his say on the complaint. In a reply to the notice DCM Ajit Pawar said "it's a partial truth", therefore I have gone through the video available with us as our camera team was also present in the event". "After reviewing the video, I have found that prima facie there is no violation of the code of conduct. Ajit Pawar is heard saying 'press button,' however, he does not specify any candidate's name for the vote. Accordingly, I have submitted my report to the Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra and the District Officer for further processing. Additionally, prior permission was obtained for the event where Ajit Pawar was speaking," Dwivedi said.

Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar is contesting on the prestigious and most watched contest on the Baramati seat against sitting MP and her sister-in-law Supriya Sule. Following a split in the Sharad Pawar led NCP, the Ajit Pawar led faction of the NCP, announced Sunetra Pawar as its candidate from Baramati.

The contest in Baramati has become very interesting after Ajit Pawar's split from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. The Sharad Pawar led Nationalist congress party (NCP) broke into two factions, in July 2, 2023, when his nephew, Ajit Pawar, went to Raj Bhavan in Mumbai and took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister along with seven NCP MLAs. (ANI)

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