Opposition slams AAP govt as 19 nominations rejected ahead of Ludhiana MC elections

447 left in fray; disqualified candidates say their names ‘deliberately’ removed from updated voter rolls in Ludhiana

At least 19 nominations were rejected by the poll officials ahead of the municipal corporation (MC) elections, drawing ire of the Opposition parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress.

Members of opposition parties during a protest in Machhiwara on Saturday. (HT Photo)

The Opposition leaders accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state and the district administration of ‘unfairly’ rejecting nominations. The leaders claimed that the nominations were dismissed without valid reasons, and alleged discrepancies in voter lists despite candidates possessing valid voter identification cards.

SAD candidate Priya Payal said her nomination from Ward Number 24 was rejected on the grounds that her name was missing from the voter rolls.

“I have all necessary documents, including my voter ID, which was valid during the recent elections. This is harassment by the district administration under instructions from the AAP government,” she said.

For the BJP, nominations were junked in Wards 5, 32, 45, 83 and 85. Ravi Kumar Chaurasiya, Raman Kumar Heera, Harpreet Kaur, Namita Malhotra and Dipika were among the BJP candidates whose nominations were turned down by the poll officials.

Sole rejection for Cong

The Congress faced a single rejection as Anmol Dutt’s nomination was junked as his name was missing from the voter rolls.

BJP district president Rajnesh Dhiman alleged the rejections were deliberate. “We earlier raised concerns about discrepancies in voter lists but the officials failed to share them in time. On the directions of the ruling party, names of our candidates were intentionally removed from the voter rolls to prevent them from contesting,” he said. BJP cabinet minister Ravneet Singh Bittu expressed outrage over the issue. In a meeting with deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal on Friday, Bittu accused the AAP government of ‘undermining’ democracy.

He alleged that the nominations were rejected intentionally to block Opposition candidates, fearing a BJP victory. “The AAP has murdered democracy by manipulating the system. They fear losing power in the municipal corporation,” he said.

DC Jorwal said, “The base voter list which was given by the election commission was already made public. It was conveyed to the leaders of political parties beforehand that if there was any addition or omission, they can raise objections. We have taken the updated voter list from September 2023, and if any candidate has issues, they can move court.”