Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, whose candidature against Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar in the election for the post of president of Mumbai Cricket Association was rejected on the grounds of invalid residential address, on Wednesday hit back claiming that his opponent also faced the similar disadvantage.
Mr. Munde’s candidature was rejected after S.D. Singhvi, one of the voters in this poll had argued that the BJP leader was not the resident of Mumbai. Following the rejection, Mr. Pawar remained as the only candidate in the race for the president’s post and was expected to win unopposed.
However on WednesdayMr. Munde presented his case in front of current MCA president Ravi Sawant and sought his intervention.
“Mr. Pawar’s permanent address, as per the documents presented in Lok Sabha is in Baramati. There cannot be double standards while scrutinising the applications of two candidates. His [Pawar’s] candidature should also be rejected as he is not the resident of Mumbai,” said Mr. Munde’s lawyer Nitin Pradhan.
He said that the questions that were raised against the BJP leader were never raised against Mr. Pawar. Mr. Pradhan clarified that all the documents submitted by the BJP leader had Mumbai’s address on it.
The Munde camp has also cited the MCA’s rule, which requires only the other candidate to raise an objection.
“A voter has not right to raise the objection and Mr. Pawar has not raised so. Therefore, the voter’s complaint cannot be the basis to reject my application,” said Mr. Munde.
The MCA will announce its final decision on the candidature of Mr. Munde on Thursday.
