CUTTACK: BJP candidate Aniruddha Pradhan, who finished third in the 2024 Narla Assembly election, has moved the Orissa High Court seeking to be substituted as petitioner in an election case withdrawn by former Congress candidate and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das against BJD MLA Manorama Mohanty.
Justice Sashikanta Mishra, hearing Pradhan’s fresh petition, issued notice to Mohanty while listing the matter on August 29.
Pradhan (67), a Bhawanipatna resident who contested the election as the BJP nominee, has relied on provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, dealing with withdrawal and substitution of election petitions.
The state Congress chief Das had earlier challenged his election in the High Court. The case had progressed to the hearing stage, with two witnesses on behalf of the election petitioner already examined. However, he subsequently filed an application for withdrawal on March 30, which Justice Mishra allowed on the same day.
Pradhan has now contended that the withdrawal was allowed without directing publication of the mandatory Gazette notification under Sections 109(2) and 110(3)(b) of the Act.
He claimed that no official Gazette notification had been published till the filing of his application, thereby depriving him and other voters of the constituency of an opportunity to object to the withdrawal or seek substitution.
He has argued that, being a candidate in the election along with Das and Mohanty, he is competent to seek substitution under Section 110(3) (c) of the Act.
According to Pradhan, the principal ground in the original election petition was the alleged improper acceptance of Mohanty’s nomination. The petition had alleged misinformation or suppression of material information concerning her educational qualification in the Form-26 affidavit submitted with her nomination.
Pradhan submitted that oral and documentary evidence had already been adduced on the issue and contended that the allegations involved a matter of public interest. He sought reopening of the election proceedings by allowing him to step into the shoes of the original election petitioner Das.