The Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday issued notices to YSR Congress party’s Lok Sabha member from Araku parliamentary constituency in connection with an election petition filed by her nearest rival in the last Lok Sabha elections, Kothapalli Geetha of Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to the petition filed by Geetha, who had represented the constituency between 2014 and 2019, Tanuja Rani had concealed certain facts about her ST status in her election affidavit filed before the Election Commission of India during the elections.
Geetha challenged the election of the YSRCP MP from the seat reserved for STs. She also alleged that Tanuja Rani had resorted to various other electoral malpractices to win the Araku Lok Sabha seat. She argued that the counting of votes, too, did not take place in free and fair manner.
Based on her petition, high court judge Justice V Srinivas issued notices to her and also other contenders from the constituency, besides the returning officer of Araku. The judge posted the case to four weeks later, asking them to submit their counter affidavits.
Tanuja Rani, who made a debut in these elections, defeated Kothapalli Geetha by a margin of over 50,000 votes. Interestingly, Geetha, too, had to face a court case in the past, when her rivals filed a similar election petition against her.