Kangana Ranaut’s Lok Sabha election from Mandi challenged, HC issues notice

On the basis of a petition filed by a resident of Kinnaur seeking to have her election set aside because his nomination papers to run for the Lok Sabha election from Mandi were allegedly incorrectly rejected, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday served notice to Kangana Ranaut, the BJP member from Mandi.

After sending out the notice, Judge Jyotsna Rewal instructed Ms. Ranaut to submit a response by August 21. With 74,755 votes, Ms. Kangana Ranaut defeated Vikramaditya Singh, the opponent from the Congress, to win the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Singh had received 4,62,267 votes, while she had 5,37,002 votes.

Layak Ram Negi, the petitioner, said that the returning officer (Deputy Commissioner, Mandi) incorrectly rejected his nomination papers, making him a party, and he thus asked for the election of Ms. Ranaut to be set aside.

Negi, a former forest department employee, said he was forced into an early retirement and gave the returning officer nomination documents and a “no dues certificate” from the agency.

He was allowed a day to obtain the “no due certificate” from the telephone, water, and electricity departments, but when he did, the returning officer rejected the nomination papers and refused to accept the documents.

He did, however, have one day to present certificates from the phone, water, and energy bureaus proving he had no outstanding balances. His nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer even after he turned them in. Negi has called for the election to be canceled, claiming he might have won if his papers had been accepted.

Ranaut welcomed the Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, saying she was ‘very happy’. “Relief fund has been promised for Himachal Pradesh. We are very happy with the budget,” said Kangana.

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