Bhopal, November 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The nomination of Congress-backed Independent candidate Rajkumar Lohani was rejected during scrutiny on Tuesday for the November 12 Rajya Sabha by-election in Madhya Pradesh, dealing a setback to the opposition party’s bid to challenge BJP candidate and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Lohani had filed his nomination on Monday, the last day for filing papers, with the support of Congress legislators. His nomination was rejected over the alleged failure to submit the mandatory Form 26 affidavit containing details of assets, liabilities, educational qualifications and criminal antecedents, if any.
Lohani had sought an opportunity to rectify the deficiencies, citing the precedent of BJP-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani in Jharkhand, who was allowed to make corrections to his nomination papers.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Hemant Katare, one of Lohani’s proposers, submitted three objections to Puri’s nomination affidavit. These concerned the non-disclosure of his wife’s name, the declaration of certain overseas assets in foreign currencies and alleged irregularities in the notarisation of the affidavit.
“We have raised objections on all three grounds before the Returning Officer. We do not have much hope, but let us see what decision the Returning Officer takes,” Katare said. He also alleged that details of an apartment in Geneva and foreign bank accounts had not been properly disclosed.
The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Union Minister of State L. Murugan. The BJP announced Puri as its candidate on October 28. He filed his nomination on October 31 in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal.
The BJP has 164 MLAs in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, compared with the Congress’s 65, giving the ruling party a comfortable numerical advantage.
Polling and counting are scheduled for November 12, while November 5 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
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