The Hindu : National : Two Congress nominations rejected in U.P. RS polls

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Sunday, Jun 20, 2004

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National

Two Congress nominations rejected in U.P. RS polls

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW, JUNE 19. The nomination papers of the Congress candidates, Harendra Agrawal and M.M. Shukla, were rejected by the Returning Officer, R.P. Pandey, today throwing the party out of the race in Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Pandey, rejecting the nominations, said personal information as required to be submitted by them had not been furnished on proper format.

Mr. Pandey, however, found in order the nomination papers of the Samajwadi Party nominee, Jaya Bachchan, which had been challenged by the Congress on the ground that she was held an office of profit as the chairperson of the U.P. Film Development Corporation.

In the reply submitted on her behalf it was stated that she had resigned her post on May 29 and also the resignation was accepted on May 31 by the competent authority.

The Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party had challenged separately the nominations of the Congress candidates on the ground that they had taken the required oath after 3 p.m. on Thursday, the last date for filing of papers. Also they did not file their personal details on prescribed format at the time of filing their papers. While the objections were filed on behalf of the BJP by the party candidate, Arun Shourie, a party MLA, Om Prakash Pandey, and the BJP-supported independent candidate, Lalit Suri, the Samajwadi Party complaint was filed by the U.P. Revenue Minister, Ambika Chaudhary.

The Returning Officer heard at length the arguments submitted by both the parties and gave his ruling this afternoon shattering the hopes of the Congress.

Mr. Pandey said that while Mr. Agrawal did not submit the required details in prescribed Form 26, Mr. Shukla had failed to furnish details of his educational qualification, crime record and property and assent details as required under rules.

The two Congress candidates themselves had accepted the discrepancies in their nomination papers, the Returning Officer said in his ruling.

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