Maharashtra Polls: EC Approves CM Devendra Fadnavis' Nomination Form, Rejects Congress Claim

The Election Commission on Saturday approved Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' nomination form for the Assembly elections, rejecting Congress's claim alleging that an expired notary was used by him for the poll affidavit. Earlier in the day, former BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh, who has been fielded against Devendra Fadnavis by the Congress, claimed that the notary stamp used on Fadnavis' affidavit has expired, as it was dated December 28, 2018.

Representing Fadnavis, advocates Uday Dabble and Parijat Pandey appeared before the Returning Officer (RO) and accepted that the notary stamp was old. They further told the RO of Nagpur South West Assembly seat that the term for the validity of the notary stamp used was extended by five years and produced documents to validate the same.

The Election Commission officer of Nagpur South West Assembly seat from where both Deshmukh and Fadnavis are contesting on the Congress and the BJP tickets respectively, said Fadnavis' nomination form was valid after taking cognizance of the documents produced by the CM’s representatives.

On Friday, Fadnavis declared assets of over Rs 3.86 crore in his election affidavit as he filed nomination from Nagpur South West Assembly constituency.

His affidavit put his immovable assets at Rs 3.78 crore, against Rs1.81 crore in 2014. The increase was mainly due to rise in market value of these properties including land, it said.

Further, the chief minister has Rs 17,500 "cash in hand", and bank deposits of Rs 8,29,665, against Rs 1,19,630 in 2014, the affidavit stated.

This increase was attributed to rise in salary and allowances of state legislators.

His wife Amruta Fadnavis owns immovable assets worth Rs 99.3 lakh, the affidavit said. She had declared immovable assets of Rs 42.60 lakh in 2014. The value of shares held by the CM's wife increased to Rs 2.33 crore against Rs 1.66 crore last time, the affidavit said.

She also has Rs 12,500 cash in hand, and bank deposits worth Rs 3,37,025 against Rs 1,00,881 in 2014. The chief minister mentioned in his nomination papers that there were four private complaints filed against him -- three by Satish Ukey and one by Mohnish Jabalpure.