Complaint to EC: CM Uddhav's affidavit contradicts data in son's filing

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and son Aaditya

Alleged contradictions between Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya's election affidavits are likely to lead to a row in political circles. A complaint has been filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) over a missing bank account detail in Aaditya's election affidavit, that was mentioned in Uddhav's affidavit.

Uddhav's affidavit shows wife Rashmi and son Aaditya as having a joint account in Bank of Maharashtra. However, Aaditya's affidavit submitted during Assembly elections does not mention the account.

Uddhav was recently elected unopposed to the Legislative Assembly to cement his chief-ministership. Abhishek Haridas, a 37-year-old Pune professor resident filed the complaint with the ECI. Uddhav's affidavit shows the joint account having R9,52,568 lakh in deposits.

Uddhav Thackeray's share-holding details under HUF

Haridas also pointed out a mismatch in information on shares held by the father and son. Both Thackerays have different dates for holding shares under the HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) category.

Haridas said, "One family, two different sets of information in affidavits. This is possible only in two conditions - one typographical error or secondly alleged intention to suppress the facts."

Asked whether the complaint is politically motivated, Haridas said, "I have filed the complaint about the discrepancies. Based on its merits, the ECI authorities will investigate to find the reasons behind the mismatch. Both sets of information cannot be considered as correct. Hence, of the two affidavits, one has to be correct and the other wrong. To the best of my knowledge, any incorrect information in an election affidavit leads to disqualification of that elected representative."

The two Thackerays did not respond to text messages or calls. However, defending the CM and Thackeray Jr, senior party leader Sanjay Raut refuted the charges of any intention to hide the facts. "I know Thackeray family members for nearly four decades. Be it Uddhav, Rashmi or Aditya, none of them will knowingly hide any information," the party MP said.

Speaking specifically about the complaint to the ECI, Raut, a close confidante of Thackeray, said, "We are not aware of any such complaint. Once we get the information, we will have to study the issue raised in the complaint and the merit of the case before making any comment." Media advisor to Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray, Harshal Pradhan, said, "We too have been hearing about the complaint through reports circulated in the media. We don't wish to comment on such reports unless we receive an official inquiry from the ECI."

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