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One candidate leaves race, now 19 in fray from Chandigarh
Independent candidate Shakeel Mohammad withdraws nomination, announces support for Congress candidate Manish Tewari
After one independent candidate withdrew his nominations on Friday, the contest for the lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat will now be between 19 candidates.
On June 1, as many as 6,59,805 voters will seal the fate of the candidates in Chandigarh, which is set to primarily witness a two-cornered contest.
Two-time member of Parliament from Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib, Congress’ Manish Tewari will be slugging it out against BJP’s Sanjay Tandon, a Lok Sabha poll debutant.
The Congress candidate is being backed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its INDIA bloc partner.
Giving further boost to Tewari’s campaign, independent candidate Shakeel Mohammad, 35, announced support for him after withdrawing his nomination on Friday, which brought the number of valid candidates down to 19.
At first, 27 candidates had filed nominations for the seat, but the candidature of seven was rejected by the Chandigarh election department after scrutiny of papers on Wednesday.
Of the 19 candidates in the fray now, three candidates are from national parties, 12 are independents and four from unrecognised parties.
Only two women — Ritu Singh from BSP and independent candidate Rajinder Kaur — have thrown their hat into the ring this time.
In the previous general elections in 2019, a total of 36 candidates had stepped into the poll battle. While a total of 45 nominations were received by the Election Commission, five were rejected and four candidates had withdrawn their nominations.
Mohammad gets notice for seeking votes in name of religion
Independent candidate Shakeel Mohammad withdrew his nomination after the election department served a show-cause notice to him on Thursday evening for campaigning at religious places and seeking votes in the name of religion.
“Mohammad visited a place of worship (dargaah) in Burail, Sector 45, on Wednesday. He met Nazeer Ali Chishti and appealed for votes in his favour. An assurance in this regard was also made by Chishti, which is counted as violation of model code of conduct,” the notice by the election department said, adding that ECI’s guidelines clearly stated that mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship cannot be used as a forum for election propaganda. Mohammad was asked to explain his position in 24 hours.
Later on Friday, Mohammad withdrew his nomination paper in support of INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tiwari, stating that in the last 10 years, the BJP had created an atmosphere of fear in the country.
A fusion of tradition and technology in election symbols
The election department has allotted a fascinating blend of quirky and conventional election symbols to candidates that merge traditional elements with advanced technological motifs. The traditional motifs include — ganna kisan (sugarcane), kettle, cot, gas cylinder, water tanker, auto-rickshaw, apple, letter box, bucket, diamond and scissors. The high-technology symbols include CCTV camera, battery torch, pen nib with seven rays, camera and binoculars.
