Winning candidate dies before poll result; nearest rival seeks court to declare self victorious

Gandhinagar: Independent Candidate who received highest votes in election of Pipan Constituency of Sanand Taluka Panchayat died a day prior to the results. Another candidate from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who had received second highest votes has now filed a petition in high-court for declaring her winner after the death of the independent candidate.

The polling for Pipan Constituency of Sanand Taluka Panchayat was held on 28th February 2021 during local body election and the counting of the votes took place on 2nd March. Independent Candidate Lilabahen Thakor received highest votes after the counting of the votes but she had died a day prior to the day of result. Then, BJP Candidate Sonalba Vaghela filed a petition in high-court to declare her victory in the election as she had got the second highest number of votes. High-court has fixed the next hearing on 1st July 2021 after sending notice to the parties and State Election Commission.

BJP Candidate Sonalba Vaghela had requested the Election Commission to declare her victory but EC answered that there are legal provisions regarding declaring victory of the candidate with second highest votes after the death of the candidate from a registered party with highest votes but there are no specific legal provisions in similar case of death of Independent candidate. DeshGujarat