“Congress Fields Candidates for All 230 Seats, BJP for 228 in MP Polls”
26 October 2023 , Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has recently taken a significant step by serving a notice to the state government in response to a plea. This plea is seeking an investigation into the authenticity of the caste certificate held by Ekta Thakur, a tribal candidate representing the Congress party in the Sihora assembly constituency of Jabalpur, as part of the upcoming state elections. Notably, Thakur is among the 30 women candidates nominated by the Congress party in the state. Concurrently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put forth 28 female candidates for the forthcoming polls, scheduled for November 17, for the 230-member state assembly.
It’s worth mentioning that the Congress has already declared its candidates for all 230 seats, while the BJP has announced nominees for 228 assembly segments thus far. The Sihora seat is specifically designated for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.
The notice from the high court came from a single judge bench led by Justice Vivek Agrawal. This development took place during a hearing regarding the petition filed against Ekta Thakur, as reported by the petitioner’s counsel. The petitioners, Renuka Bai and Naval Singh Barkade, both hailing from a tribal community in Kundam tehsil within Jabalpur district, have submitted their plea. Their plea requests a thorough investigation into the legitimacy of Ekta Thakur’s tribal status caste certificate. According to Rohit Paigwar, the counsel for the petitioners, the plaintiffs, utilizing the Right to Information (RTI) Act, had initially sought documents related to the issuance of Thakur’s caste certificate. Regrettably, they were denied access to these documents, as the relevant department claimed non-availability.
Paigwar further informed the court that the petitioners had registered a complaint with the concerned authorities, but they are still awaiting action on this matter. Consequently, the high court has directed notices to be served to a range of parties, including Ekta Thakur, the state government, the Jabalpur district collector, sub-divisional officers of Shahpura and Patan in Jabalpur, as well as the additional collector (gramin) of Jabalpur. This move marks a significant development in the ongoing scrutiny of caste certificates and has added an extra layer of intrigue to the upcoming state elections.