Maha byelection: Case against BJP candidate Rasane for violating poll code

Police have registered a case against Hemant Rasane, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Kasba Assembly seat bypoll in Maharashtra’s Pune district, for allegedly violating the model code of conduct, an official said on Monday. Bypolls to Kasba and Chinchwad Assembly seats, necessitated due to the death of their respective BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap, were held on Sunday.

Rasane, who cast his vote at Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya in Kasba area of Pune city, was seen sporting a neckwear bearing his party symbol at the polling station. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rupali Thombare filed a police complaint against Rasane for alleged breach of the model code of conduct and demanded action against him.

An official from Vishrambaug police station said the assistant returning officer for the bypoll also filed a complaint against Rasane, based on which a case was registered against him.

A probe is on into the case, the official said. In the Kasba seat, Rasane contested against Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar, who was supported by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).