Why BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's Mandi poll win was challenged
The Himachal Pradesh High Court issued notice to Kangana Ranaut, the Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member from Mandi. This comes after a Kinnaur resident filed a petition seeking to nullify her election, alleging his nomination papers were wrongly rejected. Justice Jyotsna Rewal has directed Ranaut to file a reply by August 21. Ranaut won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, defeating her nearest opponent, the Congress's Vikramaditya Singh, by a margin of 74,755 votes.
Nomination rejected 'unjustly': Petitioner
The petitioner, Layak Ram Negi, has requested that Rananut's election be annulled, claiming that his nomination papers were unjustly rejected by the returning officer, who is also a respondent. Negi, a retired forest department employee, submitted a "no dues certificate" from his department with his nomination papers. He was then given a day to provide "no due certificates" from the electricity, water, and telephone departments. Despite submitting them, the returning officer refused to accept these and rejected his papers.
Negi filed his nomination as independent candidate
Negi, who had filed his nomination as an independent candidate, said he submitted his election papers on May 14 and submitted all the other required documents on May 15, the Indian Express reported. Negi said that if his nomination papers were accepted then he might have won the election and has pleaded for cancellation of the 2024 Lok Sabha result in Mandi.
