Even as BJD Rajya Sabha member N Bhaskar Rao took oath as a Member of Parliament on Monday, a petition was filed against him in the Orissa High Court challenging his election to the Upper House.
Congress MlA Bhujabal Majhi has urged the High Court to declare the election of Rao to the Parliament as “null and void” for submitting a false affidavit along with his nomination papers filed in June this year.
Majhi in his petition has stated that despite having an income tax due of around Rs 41 lakh on the day he filed the nominations, Rao in his affidavit had misleadingly maintained that he had no pending dues.
“Deliberately misleading the voters with an untruth affidavit by a candidate is a violation of Section 33 of Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2010.” said Majhi’s counsel Gopal Agarwal, adding that Rao’s election is liable to be declared null and void.
The High Court is yet to take cognisance of the petition, Agarwal informed, saying the matter would come up for hearing soon.