Manipur: 36 petitions challenging election of ministers, MLAs in high court

The court admitted Wednesday 11 petitions filed by rival candidates against ministers and MLAs. These include nine against BJP MLAs and one each against Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) and Janata Dal (United) MLAs.

manipur assembly elections manipur high court

This is the first time in Manipur that election petitions on such a large scale have been filed in the high court. (File Photo)

The High Court of Manipur admitted Wednesday 11 petitions filed by rival candidates against ministers and MLAs challenging their wins in the recently concluded Legislative Assembly election. results. With this, 36 election petitions involving 17 BJP MLAs, including two ministers, are pending in the court and of these, 19 are yet to be admitted.

The latest 11 petitions admitted by the court include nine against BJP MLAs and one each against Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) and Janata Dal (United) MLAs. The nine BJP legislators are Paonam Brojen, Karam Shyam, Kh. Ibomcha, Th. Shyamkumar, L Rameshwar, Kebi Devi, S, Premchandra Singh, SS. Olish and minister Govindas Konthoujam. The KPA MLA is Chinlunthang Zou and the JD(U) MLA Y Joykishan Singh.

All the 36 petitions sought direction from the court to declare the results null and void, most of them on the grounds that the winning candidates provided wrong information in their election affidavits and improper acceptance of nomination papers by the election office.

Story continues below this ad

This is the first time in Manipur that election petitions on such a large scale have been filed in the high court. In April, two separate petitions were filed against minister Th Biswajit and senior BJP MLA and former minister S Rajen Singh. This was followed by more similar petitions on different occasions.

It is not clear what triggered the filing of the election petitions on such an unprecedented scale. However, it is pertinent to note that in the previous term, the High Court of Manipur overturned the election results of two sitting MLAs, including Okram Henry of the BJP and Y Surchandra of the Congress for providing false information in their respective affidavits.

India denies entry to top SOAS Hindi scholar — who is Francesca Orsini?

India1 hr ago

Francesca Orsini, a prominent Hindi scholar and professor, was denied entry into India and sent back to London from the New Delhi airport. Orsini is renowned for her groundbreaking work on Hindi literature and has mentored scholars and given lectures on literary history and world literature.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS