Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court today issued notice to the Election Commission and the victors in the recent Rajya Sabha polls from the state in a case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party's defeated nominee Balwantsinh Rajput seeking cancellation of the hustings. September 1 was set for the next hearing by Justice Bela Trivedi.
The notice was sent on a petition filed by Rajput, one of the three BJP candidates seeking cancellation of Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s election as well as his disqualification from fighting Rajya Sabha polls for six years. Rajput, who lost the contest to the Upper House to the Congress candidate, in a plea before the High Court averred that the poll panel's order cancellation of two votes was not as per rules and should be set aside.
Ahmed Patel, who secured 44 votes, along with BJP national president Amit Shah's 46 and Union minister Smriti Irani (46), were declared as the three winners from the state. Rajput, who was chief whip of the Congress in Gujarat Assembly, quit the party and contested the election on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, received 38 votes.
He also affirmed that the way 44 Congress legislators were flown to Bengaluru and the money spent on them in the entire episode amounted to corrupt practice. Pleading that Ahmed Patel’s election be nullified, Rajput questioned the authority of the [poll watchdog to cancel the votes. (UNI)