Gujarat HC terminates BJP MLA's election
Mr Manek has been winning the Dwarka seat since 1990, and had scored his seventh consecutive victory.
Ahmedabad: In a setback for the Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the Gujarat high court on Friday ruled the Dwarka Assembly election void.
BJP candidate Pabubha Manek was elected from the seat in the December 2017 Assembly elections by a margin of 5,739 votes.
The Congress candidate, Meraman Goria, who lost to Mr Manek, had moved court stating that the BJP candidate’s nomination papers were defective and should have been rejected by the returning officer.
The name of the constituency. ‘82-Dwarka’ wasn’t mentioned on the nomination form. Mr Manek’s proposer had committed a mistake by writing his own name in place of the constituency name.
The Gujarat high court upheld the contention that Mr Manek’s nomination papers were improper and so the election should be held void under Section 100(1) (d) (i) of the Representation of the People Act.
The Congress candidate demanded that he be declared elected from the constituency in place of Mr Manek, but the Gujarat high court rejected the plea.
BJP leaders believe that politically the party has nothing much to worry about as it is confident that Mr Manek will win again.
Mr Manek has been winning the Dwarka seat since 1990, and had scored his seventh consecutive victory before it was annulled. He switched over to the BJP from the Congress.
“The BJP had misused power and today with this judgment truth has prevailed,” said Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.