Mumbai civic polls: NCP plans to write to State Election Commission alleging bias towards BJP and Shiv Sena candidates

Mumbai: It is not just the opposition parties that are raising accusations of bias against election authorities for the BMC polls. Even the NCP, which is part of the ruling coaliton in the state, plans to write to the State Election Commission (SEC) alleging that returning officers in at least three wards in Mumbai displayed bias towards BJP-Shiv Sena candidates by accepting nomination forms which should have been treated as invalid.While the NCP is part of the Mahayuti govt with the BJP and Shiv Sena, it is contesting the BMC polls solo. The BJP and Shiv Sena have an alliance for the BMC.The NCP also indicated that it will become the kingmaker in the BMC election and that the mayor will belong to its party.Hinting that there will be a hung house with no political alliance reaching the halfway mark, NCP leader Nawab Malik, who heads the party's campaign for the BMC, said, "If Jharkhand could have a chief minister with just one MLA, then a party with 30 seats will get the mayor's post."Malik said that the NCP will approach the SEC and also file election petitions in three cases where the returning officers were biased towards candidates from the BJP and Shiv Sena.In Ward No. 119, the nomination form of a Shiv Sena candidate was accepted even though he is a BMC vendor, and this is not allowed according to the rules, Malik alleged.In Ward No. 87, he alleged that the nomination form of a BJP candidate was accepted without the required caste certificate. "When we raised an objection, we were told that the candidate submitted an affidavit with details of the caste certificate of her father," said Malik. In the third case, the nomination form of a BJP candidate was accepted even though he faced an illegal construction case, Malik alleged.Malik was accused of nepotism, since the NCP gave tickets to three of his relatives. His brother, Kaptan Malik, will contest from Ward No. 165 (Kurla), his sister, Saeeda Khan, from Ward No. 168, and his niece, Bushra Malik, from Ward No. 170 in Kurla. His daughter, Sana Malik, is an MLA.Responding to questions on this, Malik said, "Two of them are sitting candidates. In any case, my brother and sister have their own families and can no longer be considered part of my family." He added, "Party leaders can field relatives. The question is whether the public will elect them."