Nagpur (Maharashtra) : In a setback for the Congress party ahead of the upcoming general elections in the country, Ramtek Lok Sabha Constituency Returning Officer on Thursday declared the nomination of the Congress candidate Rashmi Barve as invalid.
The nomination was rejected on the ground that the caste validity certificate was invalid. The Election Commission has approved her husband Shyam Kumar Barve as the official candidate of the Congress for Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency, said the Ramtek Returning Officer.
Rashmi Barve lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said, "The Caste Validity Committee cancelled the validity of my caste certificate without hearing my side. The ruling party is conspiring against the opposition. The caste validity certificate of a woman from the Scheduled Caste was cancelled in just one hour. This government is acting dictatorially and this dictatorship will not last long."
Meanwhile, Veteran Bollywood actor Govinda joined the Shiv Sena on Thursday in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai. Govinda had earlier met Krishna Hegde, who is a spokesperson for Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, at his residence.
Notably, the election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the general election.
The counting of votes will take place on June 4. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 303 seats, while Congress won 52 seats. Maharashtra will vote in five phases for 48 constituencies in the general elections.
The state of Maharashtra, with its 48 Lok Sabha seats, is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats.