Election petition against BJD MP Rao in HC

Cuttack, Jul 19: As BJD leader N Bhaskar Rao on Monday, July 18 took oath as Rajya Sabha member, a petition was filed in the Orissa High Court challenging his election on the ground of allegedly submitting a false affidavit.

Congress legislator Bhujabal Majhi urged the Cuttack bench of the High Court to declare Rao's election as “null and void” for allegedly submitting a false affidavit along with his nomination papers.

Majhi has claimed in his petition that despite having an income tax due of around Rs 41 lakh on the day he filed the nomination, Rao maintained in the affidavit he had no such liability.

"Deliberately misleading the voters with an untrue affidavit by a candidate is a violation of Section 33 of Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2010," said Majhi’s counsel Gopal Agarwal. The HC is, however, yet to take cognisance of the petition.

PTI