BHOPAL: Rajkumar Lohani, a social activist from Bhopal, filed his nomination papers on Monday to contest the November 12 Rajya Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh as a Congress-backed Independent candidate.
The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha website reportedly indicated that Lohani, a resident of old Bhopal, had not submitted the prescribed affidavit (Form 26) along with his nomination papers. This prompted Deputy Leader of Opposition and young Congress MLA Hemant Katare to suspect that the Returning Officer might reject the social activist's nomination during scrutiny on Tuesday (November 3).
Lohani, however, claimed that he had submitted all the required documents in both hard and soft copies.
The social activist has written to the Returning Officer for the by-election, Umesh Sharma, stating that he was not allowed to submit the required affidavit along with his nomination papers before 3 pm on Monday, despite being ready and willing to do so within the prescribed deadline.
He also cited Section 33(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, stating that the Returning Officer is required to permit corrections to clerical, technical and printing errors in nomination papers. Other provisions of the law governing the election process stipulate that no nomination paper should be rejected on the grounds of a defect that is not substantial in nature. The law also provides candidates with an opportunity to respond to objections raised during scrutiny.
Hemant Katare, who led nine other Congress MLAs in backing Lohani's nomination, said, “Lohaniji, as well as the Congress MLAs, suspect that our supported candidate's nomination may be rejected on Tuesday, just as our party candidate Meenakshi Natrajan's nomination was rejected by the Returning Officer during the biennial election to three Rajya Sabha seats in the state on June 9, 2026.”
Explaining his decision to contest the by-election as an Independent candidate against Union Minister and BJP nominee Hardeep Singh Puri, Bhopal-based social activist Lohani said, “Why didn't the BJP field a candidate from Madhya Pradesh for the November 12 by-election? The candidate, Hardeep Singh Puri, is not only from outside Madhya Pradesh but his name is also mired in the controversy surrounding the Epstein Files. How can BJP legislators vote in favour of such a candidate on November 12?”
With Lohani filing his nomination on the last day of the nomination process on Monday, three candidates are now in the fray for the November 12 by-election. They are Lohani, Union Minister and BJP nominee Hardeep Singh Puri, and Telangana-based Kante Sayanna, who has unsuccessfully contested several Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in different states.
If the nomination papers of at least two of the three candidates are not rejected, or two candidates do not withdraw their nominations by November 5, polling will take place on November 12 for the seat vacated by former Union Minister and BJP MP L Murugan.
A candidate needs 116 votes to win the by-election. With the BJP having 164 members in the 230-member Vidhan Sabha, its nominee is likely to secure victory if a contest takes place on November 12.
Meanwhile, BJP insiders claimed that the Congress had backed Lohani as an Independent candidate to save itself from the humiliation of losing the Rajya Sabha by-election.