Allahabad HC reviews Meerapur assembly by-election validity

The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to 15 people, including Mithlesh Pal, a candidate supported by the BJP and RLD. This is in response to a petition that challenges the results of the Meerapur assembly by-election held in November. The petitioner, Sanjeev Kumar, claims that his nomination to run in the election was wrongly rejected. He argues that his nomination form was valid, while Pal’s nomination was accepted even though it had issues. Kumar feels his complaints were ignored, prompting him to bring the matter to the high court. The court has asked all 15 respondents to appear on May 7. This includes Mithlesh Pal and the returning officer from Jansath. The petition questions the validity of Pal's election as a legislator from Meerapur and requests a new election for that seat. In the contested election, Mithlesh Pal won by a significant margin, receiving 83,552 votes. However, there were reports of voter intimidation and heavy-handed actions by police. The opposition votes were spread among several candidates, including those from the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and others. The results showed that SP’s Sumbul Rana received 53,425 votes while others received even fewer.