- (1.) Aggrieved by the dismissal of his Election Petition No. 36 of 1990 on the file of High Court of Madhya Pradesh, the appellant has filed the present appeal under Section 116-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, hereinafter called the Act.
(2.) In the election held in the month of February, 1990 for No.44-Jatara Constituency in the District of Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, the appellant along with 24 other candidates contested in that constituency by filing nomination. The appellant polled 13,716 votes while respondent No. 2 was polled 15,221 votes. Respondent No.2 having secured 1505 votes, more that the votes polled by the appellant, was declared elected to the said Constituency. The appellant challenged the election of the second respondent by filing the Election Petition in the High Court.
(3.) The main grounds of attack in the Election Petition were that his full name is 'Akhand Pratap Sing Yadav', but in the voters' list as well as in the ballot papers his name was shown as 'Akhand Pratap Singh'. The failure to give his surname Yadav' both in the voters ' list and in the ballot papers had 'materially affected the voting and the result of the returned candidate to the prejudice and detriment' of the appellant. According to the appellant he had canvassed throughout the Constituency giving prominence to his full name, namely, 'Akhand Pratap Singh Yadav, Whereas in the ballot papers his name was mentioned as 'Akhand Pratap Sigh' sounded similar to the name of the returned candidate, namely ' Surendra Pratap Singh' which created confusion in the minds of the voters in particular amongst the rural and uneducated voters who were familiar with the Appellant's /petitioner's name as 'Yadav'. ;