Himachal HC challenges Kangana Ranaut’s mandi election, issues notice to BJP MP

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a notice in response to a petition challenging the election of BJP MP Kangana Ranaut from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The court has directed Ranaut, an actor-turned-politician, to respond to the petition by August 21. The petition aims to invalidate Ranaut's election, alleging that the rejection of another candidate's nomination papers was unjust.

Kangana Ranaut secured her seat in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency by defeating Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh with a margin of 74,755 votes. Ranaut garnered 537,002 votes, while Singh received 462,267 votes.

Petitioner's claims

Justice Jyotsna Rewal issued the notice based on a petition filed by Layak Ram Negi, a resident of Kinnaur. Negi, who had submitted his nomination papers as an independent candidate for the Mandi seat, contends that his papers were wrongfully rejected by the returning officer, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. Negi has named the returning officer as a party in the case.

Negi, a former forest department employee, explained that he took premature retirement and submitted a "no dues certificate" from the forest department along with his nomination papers. He was then asked to provide additional "no dues certificates" from the electricity, water, and telephone departments. Despite submitting these additional certificates, the returning officer did not accept them and subsequently rejected his nomination papers.

Negi's plea for justice

Negi argues that his nomination papers were wrongly rejected and that he could have won the election had they been accepted. He is requesting the court set aside Ranaut's election, asserting that the rejection of his papers unjustly affected the election's outcome.