The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to BJP MP Kangana Ranaut following a petition seeking to set aside her election from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The petition was filed by Layak Ram Negi, a former government employee from Kinnaur, who alleged that his nomination papers for the election were wrongfully rejected by the returning officer.
Negi claimed that he had taken voluntary retirement and provided a “no dues certificate” from his department along with his nomination. However, his papers were rejected within a day after he was asked to produce additional “no dues certificates” from the electricity, water, and telephone departments. Despite submitting all required documents on May 15, the returning officer did not accept them, leading to the rejection of his nomination.
Negi, who filed his nomination as an independent candidate, stated that he could have won the election if his papers had been accepted and requested the court to annul the election results.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal directed Kangana Ranaut to file a reply by August 21.
Ranaut had won the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of 74,755 votes against Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh. Ranaut secured 537,002 votes, while Singh received 462,267 votes.
