Cuttack: Election of a BJD MLA and that of a Congress legislator has been challenged in Orissa High Court.
The HC issued notices to Titlagarh BJD MLA Tukuni Sahu and Jeypore Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati yesterday asking them to file their response to petitions challenging their election to the state assembly in April this year.
Taking up the petitions, the single-judge bench of Justice Biswanath Rath asked the two to file their counters by August 26 so that further hearing could be taken up immediately after.
Congress leader and former MLA Surendra Singh Bhoi has challenged the election of Tukuni Sahu saying that the process of election and the counting of votes were not taken up properly in his constituency.
Bhoi had polled 57836 votes and lost to Sahu by a margin of 14022 votes in a 12-cornered contest.
In a similar instance, BJD leader and former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda has challenged the election of Bahinipati on the same grounds.
Nanda had polled 57011 votes and the Congress MLA had secured 65378 to win the seat in a 10-cornered contest.
Elections of at least 19 MLAs of the state, including two ministers, have been challenged in the HC which has already issued notices to several of them.
