Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi, has filed a petition with the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court challenging the election of Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Rambhual Nishad. Gandhi’s petition, filed on Saturday, alleges that Nishad did not fully disclose his criminal record when filing his nomination papers for the recent Lok Sabha elections.
According to Gandhi’s petition, Nishad had mentioned only eight out of twelve pending criminal cases in his election affidavit. Additionally, it is claimed that Nishad concealed the fact that he had been charge-sheeted in four of these cases. Gandhi personally appeared before the registrar of the High Court to submit the petition.
In the June elections, Nishad defeated Gandhi by a margin of 43,174 votes, securing 4,44,330 votes compared to Gandhi’s 4,01,156 votes. Gandhi’s petition argues that Nishad’s failure to disclose all relevant criminal information constitutes a corrupt practice under Section 100 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Prashant Singh, Gandhi’s counsel, emphasized that Nishad’s omission of crucial information misled the Election Commission and affected the fairness of the electoral process. Singh has requested that the election for the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency be declared void based on these grounds.
Sources By Agencies
