RS bypoll nominations: MLAs Raman Arora, Kunwar Vijay reject claims of backing Chaturvedi

Navneet Chaturvedi, a resident of Jaipur, who claims to be the national president of the Janata Party, was booked on Monday after AAP MLAs alleged that their signatures were forged on nomination papers submitted by him.

AAP MLA from Jalandhar Central, Raman Arora, and Amritsar North MLA and former IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Tuesday issued clarifications and said that they didn’t know Navneet Chaturvedi or propose his name on the nomination papers submitted for the Rajya Sabha bypoll.

Representational image.

“I have not proposed any person as a candidate for the upcoming bye-election for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat. I do not know anyone by the name of Navneet Chaturvedi, nor have I proposed his name as a candidate for the aforementioned election,” Raman Arora said in a letter written to the secretary of the Punjab legislative assembly, who is the returning officer to the elections. Raman Arora was arrested on corruption and extortion charges by the Punjab police in May this year. He was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court after spending four months in jail.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh also stated he did not know Chaturvedi. Kunwar Vijay was suspended from the ruling AAP for five years in June this year.

Shared the letter on his social media page, the ex-IPS officer said, “I am a responsible member of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, representing the esteemed residents of Amritsar. I am well aware of my responsibilities as an MLA. In the capacity of MLA of Vidhan Sabha, I have not proposed the name of any candidate for the coming election to the Rajya Sabha,” he said.