Bhopal, Jul 31 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued notice on former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh’s petition alleging irregularities in the Lok Sabha election in the Rajgarh constituency.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said that the court has issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the returning officer for the Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency.

The court has sought their reply on the petition. “We have made the ECI and the returning officer (Rajgarh LS seat) as party in the case. It’s a case about the authenticity of the EVMs, which is why, we have made the ECI a party,” Tankha, who represented Digvijaya Singh in the court told IANS.

Notably, on July 16, Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh filed a petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court alleging irregularities in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in Rajgarh, where he lost to BJP's Rodmal Nagar by a margin of 1,46,089 votes.

In his petition, Singh alleged irregularities and highlighted the sequences of how the irregularities occurred. He had also alleged that election norms were not followed in the constituency.

Singh had earlier accused the Returning Officer of not complying with the directives of the ECI. However, it’s not the first time he has questioned EVMs or irregularities in the elections.

Two-time former MP CM lost against BJP’s Rodmal Nagar from his home turf Rajgarh, even after he tried to win sympathy for the last election. It was his second consecutive loss in the Lok Sabha after Bhopal in 2019 against BJP’s Pragya Singh Thakur.

The Congress was expecting to win at least three to five Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Rajgarh and Chhindwara, which used to be the bastion of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath. However, the grand old party drew a blank as the BJP swept all the 29 seats in the state.