Himachal Pradesh High Court Challenges BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's Election

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to Kangana Ranaut, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Mandi. This notice follows a petition by Layak Ram Negi, a resident of Kinnaur, who is challenging her election. Negi's nomination papers for the Lok Sabha constituency were allegedly rejected improperly.

Justice Jyotsna Rewal directed Ranaut to respond by August 21. Ranaut had secured the Mandi Lok Sabha seat by defeating Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh with a margin of 74,755 votes. She received 5,37,002 votes, while Singh garnered 4,62,267 votes.

Petitioner's Claims

Negi, a former forest department employee, claimed that his nomination papers were unjustly rejected by the returning officer, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. He argued that this rejection was improper and has made the returning officer a party in his petition.

Negi had taken early retirement and provided a no dues certificate from his department along with his nomination papers. However, he was asked to submit additional no dues certificates from the electricity, water, and telephone departments within a day.

Rejection of Nomination Papers

Despite submitting the required certificates on time, Negi's nomination papers were not accepted by the returning officer. He contended that this rejection was unfair and that he could have won the election if his papers had been accepted.

Negi is seeking to have Ranaut's election set aside on these grounds. He believes that the improper rejection of his nomination papers significantly impacted the election outcome.