A candidate from every village: Maratha community in Nanded plans to overwhelm Lok Sabha poll machinery over quota demand

Hanmant Patil Rajegore, who hails from the community, said this would be done till their demand for granting reservation through the principle of blood relation to the community is met. “During elections, each polling booth can have a maximum of six Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and each EVM can have a maximum of 14 names. If this limit is breached, the polls will have to be called off or held through ballot,” Rajegore explained.

Laxman More, seen here addressing the crowd, plans to stand from Sonkhed as an independent candidate. (Express)

Thus from the 55 villages in Ardhapur taluka from where Rajegore hails, a minimum of 50 candidates will be fielded. The security deposit would be collected through voluntary contribution. Ardhapur is part of Bhokardan constituency represented by former Congress leader Ashok Chavan who has since joined the BJP.

Manoj Jarange Patil may have called off his 17-day fast and the state government has given its nod for 10 per cent reservation for the Maratha community but, on the ground, the community is anything but pleased. Jaranage Patil, on his part, has rejected the reservation granted as it does not include his demand for quota for ‘sage-soyare”. While the activist recuperates, his supporters – mainly youths from the Maratha community – continue their fight, and their next course of action is to overwhelm the election machinery.

Laxman More, 26, a resident of Sonkhed village in the neighbouring taluka of Loha, will be one such candidate. “The community has already experimented this model in Parbhani when a gram panchayat election in the village of Ghate Pimpalgaon in Pathri taluka saw 155 candidates for a single post. The election was called off due to logistic issues – the same model is to be replicated during the Lok Sabha polls also,” he said.

Anish Tore, professor of political science and a fellow at Ashoka University, said that in such a scenario, the Election Commission would certainly be in a tight spot. “Normally, the threshold of contesting elections is low as the Election Commission of India (ECI) verifies whether the candidate fits the parameters under the Representation of People’s Act. There can’t be two methods of voting i.e. one via EVM and the other via paper ballots. In the eyes of the electoral law of the land, there cannot be any differentiation between Independent candidates and candidates of political parties,” he said.