HC dismisses petition challenging Maharashtra CM Fadnavis's 2024 assembly poll win

Mumbai: In a relief to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging his victory in the 2024 assembly elections from the Nagpur South West seat. A bench of Justice Pravin Patil dismissed the petition filed by Congress' Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe against Fadnavis's assembly poll victory claiming procedural lapses and corrupt practices earlier this year. In the 2024 Maharashtra elections, Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe lost to Fadnavis in the Nagpur South-West constituency by 39,710 votes.

Gudadhe in the petition sought the high court to declare the poll result as null and void saying several mandatory provisions were not followed. Gudadhe's advocate Pavan Dahat said the bench dismissed the petition on a technical ground that the petitioner was not physically present at the time of filing of the petition. He said they are already in the process of filing an appeal in the Supreme Court against the HC order. Along with Gudadhe's election petition, the high court on Friday also dismissed four other petitions challenging the election of BJP MLA Mohan Mate, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Deorao Bhongle and Kiritkumar Bhangadia.