Ahmedabad: An election petition has been filed before the Gujarat High Court challenging the election of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Harshad Govindbhai Parmar from the Umreth Assembly constituency, alleging suppression of assets in the affidavit submitted with his nomination papers for the 2026 by-election.

The petition came up for hearing before Justice S.V. Pinto on Thursday, where the petitioner, an elector from the Umreth Assembly constituency, contended that the returned candidate failed to disclose all his immovable properties in the mandatory Form 26 affidavit filed along with his nomination papers.

Appearing for the petitioner, counsel submitted that Harshad Parmar had disclosed only one property located at Chikodra in his election affidavit. However, official land records, including Village Form No. 7, allegedly show that Parmar and his brother, Ashokbhai Parmar, jointly own several other parcels of land that were not disclosed in the affidavit.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the omission amounted to suppression of material information and submitted that the candidate was given an opportunity to rectify the alleged deficiencies during the scrutiny of nomination papers but failed to do so.

It was further argued that objections regarding the alleged non-disclosure were raised before the Returning Officer during the nomination process. Despite the objections, the Returning Officer accepted the nomination and rejected the petitioner’s challenge.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel referred to judicial precedents and cited instances from Madhya Pradesh where nomination papers were rejected for incomplete disclosures. Counsel argued that, in the present case, the authorities had adopted a different approach despite the alleged omissions.

The petition alleges that the non-disclosure of assets constitutes a violation of the provisions governing election disclosures and has sought relief under Sections 81, 101(b), and 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act, relying on Supreme Court judgments relating to the disclosure obligations of election candidates. The petitioner urged the court to direct that the election petition proceed to trial on its merits.

Harshad Govindbhai Parmar was elected from the Umreth Assembly constituency in Anand district after winning the April 2026 by-election. The by-election was necessitated following the death of four-time BJP MLA Govindbhai Parmar, Harshad Parmar’s father, on March 6, 2026.

The matter is pending before the Gujarat High Court. No notice has yet been issued on the merits of the petition, and the allegations made in the election petition are yet to be adjudicated by the court. DeshGujarat