- By Vivek Raj
- Sun, 28 Jul 2024 08:53 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Former BJP MP from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi, has filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, challenging the election of Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ram Bhuwal Nishad. Gandhi alleges that Nishad failed to disclose all pending criminal cases against him when he filed his nomination papers for the recent Lok Sabha election.
The petition, filed by senior advocate Prashant Singh Atal on behalf of Gandhi, states that Nishad has 12 criminal cases registered against him but only mentioned 8 in his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission. The undisclosed cases are registered at Pipraich police station in Gorakhpur district and Barhalganj police station. Gandhi's petition calls on the High Court to annul Nishad's election and declare her as the elected candidate.
Gandhi personally appeared before the registrar to submit her petition, which is scheduled to be heard by the Lucknow bench on July 30.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ram Bhuwal Nishad defeated the sitting MP Maneka Gandhi from the Sultanpur seat by a margin of 43,174 votes. Nishad received 4,44,330 votes, while Gandhi garnered 4,01,156 votes. The Sultanpur constituency saw a triangular contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) has emerged as the dominant force by securing 37 seats in the state, which sends the highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. The Congress, allied with SP and part of the INDIA bloc, secured six seats. Collectively, the opposition INDIA bloc claimed 43 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
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Meanwhile, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which faced stiff competition from SP, managed to secure only 33 seats, a significant drop from its 2019 tally of 63 seats.