Booked for misconduct on counting day, Patole targets collector

Booked for misconduct on counting day, Patole targets collector Days after he was booked for allegedly disrupting the vote counting process here on May 23, Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole Monday said the behaviour of district collector cum returning officer Ashwin Mudgal was "dictatorial" towards him and his supporters. Patole, who lost to BJP MP and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, was booked last week for entering a counting centre with his supporters on May 23 without permission and for arguing with polling staff and raising slogans.

Mudgal had informed the Chief Election Commissioner in New Delhi and the Chief Electoral Officer of the state about the complaint against Patole who was booked for misconduct during the counting process. Addressing a press conference here, Patole said his representatives were initially not given the forms that help in identifying EVM machines on the counting day.

"Subsequently, when we wanted to check VVPAT tally, the returning officer said nobody should be allowed inside otherwise they will be sent to jail. Following this, I had had an argument with the collector. He behaved in a dictatorial manner with the representative of people," he alleged.