Maneka Gandhi Moves High Court Against Sultanpur MP's Election

Gandhi is contesting the election of SP MP Rambhual Nishad, alleging that he failed to disclose all pending criminal cases against him when he filed his nomination papers for the recent Lok Sabha election.

BJP MP Maneka Gandhi arrives at Parliament during the second phase of the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi. (Picture source: ANI)

Former BJP MP from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi, submitted a petition to the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday. She is contesting the election of SP MP Rambhual Nishad, alleging that he failed to disclose all pending criminal cases against him when he filed his nomination papers for the recent Lok Sabha election. 

She filed an election petition with the court registry on Saturday. She appeared in person before the registrar to file the plea. This petition is expected to be heard by the Lucknow bench on July 30.  

In her petition, Gandhi highlighted that Nishad disclosed only eight out of twelve criminal cases in his election affidavit, and omitted the fact that he had been charge-sheeted in four of them. 

The petition alleged that Nishad concealed information about criminal cases at Pipraich police station in Gorakhpur district and Barhalganj police station. It called on the High Court to annul Nishad's election and declare Maneka Gandhi as the elected candidate. 

In June, Nishad defeated the incumbent MP Maneka Gandhi in the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 43,174 votes. Nishad received 4,44,330 votes, while Gandhi garnered 4,01,156 votes.