Petitioner gets month's time for written objection to Pragya's

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday granted one-month time to a petitioner to file an objection to the delay by BJP Bhopal Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur in filing a reply to his petition.

Journalist Rakesh Dixit had filed a petition in the MP HC stating Thakur delivered speeches on religious lines for electoral gains during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign, thus violating provisions of Representation of the People Act.

While the time limit to reply to the election petition notice was 90 days, Thakur had filed it beyond this period in December, said Dixit's counsel Arvind Srivastava.

Dixit had, on Monday, sought time to file a written objection to an application moved by Thakur to condone the delay, Srivasatava said.

Justice Vishal Dhagat granted Dixit one month's time, he said.

Thakur defeated senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh by over three lakh votes from Bhopal in the Lok Sabha polls held in April-may.