JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has sent notices to the Election Commission of India, chief electoral officer, and the J&K govt, among others, on a petition filed by National Panthers Party (India) candidate Harsh Dev Singh seeking to declare the 2024 assembly election at Chenani null and void.
Singh, who heads the party, lost to BJP’s Balwant Singh Mankotia by a margin of 15,611 votes. Singh alleged malpractice during electioneering. He claimed Mankotia had launched a malicious, highly malevolent and pernicious vilification campaign against him.
Mankotia, through his social media posts and interviews, gave the impression that he was a nationalist, while Singh was an anti-national and supporter of terrorists, the NPP (India) head complained.
Arguing his case, advocate Aseem Sawhney said Chenani assembly election had been vitiated due to large scale corruption and concealment of material facts in the affidavit.