Arunachal: Court declares BJP MLA Dasanglu Pul’s candidacy void
Dasanglu Pul said she relinquished her claim over her husband’s properties.
ITANAGAR- The Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court has declared the candidacy of BJP MLA Dasanglu Pul, void. Dasanglu Pul 45, the widow of former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, was re-elected from the Hayuliang Assembly constituency in 2019 assembly polls. She earlier won the seat in a bye-election in 2016 after her husband’s death.
Court has declared the election of Dasanglu Pul, null and void under the Representation of People Act for concealing information about her properties in her election affidavit.
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Lupalum Kri, the Congress candidate who lost to Dasanglu Pul in 2019, moved the high court challenging her win, saying she did not declare her husband’s four properties in Mumbai and two in Arunachal Pradesh in her election affidavit. He added her nomination was accepted despite his objections.
“…the respondent/returned candidate [Dasanglu Pul] had not presented her nomination paper in accordance with Section 33 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and as such the nomination paper of the respondent/returned candidate is liable to be rejected,” the court said on Tuesday.
The court added “improper acceptance” of Dasanglu Pul’s nomination papers “materially affected” the result of her election.
Kri said Dasanglu Pul also did not mention in her affidavit that she held an office of profit as the Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Limited’s chairperson and director. He added Dasanglu Pul did not submit two affidavits in the prescribed format.
Dasanglu Pul told the court her husband’s first wife was declared the heir to his properties after Kalikho Pul’s death. He added as such she did not make any mention of those properties belonging to her late husband.
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Dasanglu Pul said she relinquished her claim over her husband’s properties.
The court said Dasanglu Pul contested the declaration of Kalikho Pul’s first wife as his legal heir. It added when she filed her affidavit, the properties were still in her husband’s name. “Hence, she should have mentioned it in her affidavit.”