HC annuls Cong MLA’s win in MP bypoll

Bhopal: In a major jolt to the Congress party, the Gwalior bench of the High Court on Monday annulled the election of MLA Mukesh Malhotra from the Vijaypur assembly seat in a bypoll held on Nov 2024. Malhotra defeated then sitting minister for forests and environment Ram Niwas Rawat by a margin of 7,364 votes. After the high court's decision, Ram Niwas Rawat who was the closest rival in the contest, will be the legislator of the constituency.Speaking to reporters on Monday evening, Ram Niwas Rawat said, "For some reasons, the Congress candidate won the bypoll in Vijaynagar. Under directions of the Supreme Court, every candidate contesting an election is supposed to provide correct information in an affidavit and the nomination form. It is expected that correct information is provided so the people of the constituency know who they are voting for. But the Congress candidate did not reveal the criminal cases registered against him, thereby misguiding the voters. This is the reason I filed an election petition before the court.""The decision has been passed by the high court. Had the Congress candidate revealed his true information, then people would have voted for the BJP's candidate," he added.Meanwhile, state Congress president Jitu Patwari told TOI that he is still studying the court order. "We are going through the court order. However, we have legal hope and will do the needful. Earlier, there have been instances when such orders were reversed by the court," Patwari said.The matter was taken to the court by the BJP and Ram Niwas Rawat in 2025 who alleged that rules have been violated, and Mukesh Malhotra had not declared his criminal cases records in the affidavit along with the nomination form. After hearing the case, the bench of justice GS Alhuwalia on Monday annulled the election of Malhotra to the state assembly.Vijaypur assembly constituency, located in Sheopur district, went for bypoll after former minister and Congress' six-time MLA Ram Niwas Rawat quit the party and joined BJP before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. Rawat, who was a minister in the erstwhile Digvijaya Singh govt in the Nineties, officially resigned from post of Congress MLA in July 2024 after he was sworn-in as minister in the BJP govt. Rawat's resignation initiated the bypoll which was held on Nov 13, 2024. After defeat, Ram Niwas Rawat stepped down from the Mohan Yadav cabinet.