MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator and former mayor Vishakha Raut’s election is set to be cancelled after the Palghar caste scrutiny committee invalidated the OBC certificate submitted by her while contesting the BMC polls.Raut had contested from Ward 191 in Dadar, which was reserved for women from the OBC category, on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket. She had submitted an OBC certificate to establish her eligibility for the reserved seat.The Palghar committee passed its order on Friday, cancelling Raut’s OBC certificate following a complaint alleging that the certificate was invalid. A copy of the order is expected to reach the BMC headquarters by Monday, after which the civic administration is likely to formally announce the cancellation of her corporator post in the municipal house.Raut, however, has alleged that the decision was taken under political pressure from Shiv Sena. She maintained that she belongs to the OBC category and said her family’s ancestral village is in Palghar district.“Just a month ago the Shiv Sena former MLA had already started speaking about my disqualification and that his daughter would get the seat, how did he know it one month in advance?” she said.Raut is a corporator from the politically significant Dadar–Shivaji Park area, and had managed to retain the seat for her party, defeating Priya Sarvankar, daughter of former MLA Sada Sarvankar. Raut secured 13,236 votes, edging past Sarvankar, who polled 13,039 votes. The victory margin stood at a slender 197 votes, making it one of the tightest contests in the BMC election. The seat was among those where there were only two candidates contesting.The development could trigger a legal battle over Raut’s election. She said she would appeal against the caste scrutiny committee’s order before the Konkan Bhavan commissioner, as permitted under the applicable procedure. Raut said she has three months to file the appeal and would decide whether to move court depending on the outcome of the appeal.So far, four corporators have been disqualified over invalid caste certificates: Sena (UBT)’s Deepak Sawant from Ward 111 in Bhandup, AIMIM’s Sameer Ramzan Patel from Ward 137 in Govandi, AIMIM’s Roshan Shaikh from Ward 138, and NCP’s Bushra Nadeem Malik from Ward 170 in Kurla East.
