 "Who is challenging Kangana Ranaut’s Mandi win & why? Actress given time till August 21 to reply")
Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood actor and newly elected BJP Lok Sabha MP from Mandi, has been issued notice by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, on a petition filed by Kinnaur resident for setting aside her election.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal of the Himachal HC has given Kangana time till August 21 to file a reply.
Why has Himachal Pradesh HC issued notice to Kangana Ranaut?
The high court has issued notice to Kangana following a petition filed by Layak Ram Negi, a government employee and a resident of Kinnaur.
Negi moved the court for setting aside Kangana’s election on the grounds that his nomination papers to contest 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Mandi constituency were allegedly wrongly rejected by the returning officer (Deputy Commissioner, Mandi).
The petitioner has also made the returning officer a party.
Who is Layak Ram Negi, the man who challenged Ranaut’s election from Mandi?
Negi is an ex-employee of the forest department. To contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he filed his nomination as an independent candidate. He submitted his election papers on May 14 and all the other documents sought were provided on May 15.
In his plea, Negi said that he got premature retirement and produced a “no dues certificate” from the department along with nomination papers to the returning officer.
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More ShortsDespite doing so, Negai alleged that he was given a day to produce the “no due certificate” from the electricity, water, and telephone departments and when he submitted them, the returning officer did not accept them and rejected the nomination papers.
He pleaded that he could have won the election had his papers been accepted and said that the election be set aside.
However, he was given a day to produce the “no due certificate” from the electricity, water, and telephone departments and when he submitted them, the returning officer did not accept them and rejected the nomination papers.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kangana Ranaut had won from the Mandi constituency by 74,755 votes against her rival, Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh.
Kangana bagged 5,37,002 votes, while Singh secured 4,62,267 votes.
With inputs from agencies
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