Himachal Pradesh HC issues notice to Kangana Ranaut after her election as BJP MP from Mandi challenged

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notice to Kangana Ranaut, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from Mandi, on a petition filed by a resident seeking to set aside her election on the grounds of rejecting his nomination papers for general election 2024.

The petitioner, a Kinnaur resident, has alleged that his nomination papers to contest Lok Sabha 2024 elections from Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh against the Queen actor were allegedly wrongly rejected.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court judge, Justice Jyotsna Rewal has issued notice directing Ranaut to file a reply by August 21. Ranaut won the elections from Mandi parliament seat, defeating her rival Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh by over 74,000 votes. 

Pleading to set aside Ranaut's election, the petitioner, Layak Ram Negi,claimed that the returning officer, the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi district, had wrongly rejected his nomination papers. The agency report said that the petitioner has also made the Deputy Commissioner of Mandu a party.

Negi, an ex-employee of the forest department in Himachal Pradesh, said that he got premature retirement and produced a "no dues certificate" from the department along with nomination papers to the returning officer.

However, he said, he was given a day to produce the "no due certificate" from the electricity, water, and telephone departments. When he submitted them, the returning officer did not accept them and rejected the nomination papers.

The petitioner pleaded that he could have won the election if his papers had been accepted. He has sought to set aside the election.

Ranaut Welcomes Budget 2024

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.

(With PTI Inputs)