On Tuesday, the day of scrutiny of nominations, district election officials rejected 13 out of 25 nominations for the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat. Officials said most of the papers were rejected as the forms were not properly filled as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (EC).
According to the final list released, 12 candidates are left in the fray. The list includes Amit Sharma (independent), Ashok Sharma (Subhashwadi Bharatiya Samaj Party), Divya Yogmaya Saraswati (Rashtriya Bharatiya Jan Jan Party), Dolly Sharma (Congress), Mohan Lal (Republican Party of India), Nagendra Kumar (Shiv Sena), Rakesh Suri (Right to Recall Party), Saleem Ahmad (Sabse Acchi Party), Sewa Ram Kasana (Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party – Lohiya), Sunil Nayar (Rashtriya Lok Sarvadhikar Party), Suresh Bansal (Samajwadi Party) and VK Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party).
“According to EC directions, all columns in the nomination form have to be filled up. Most of those who had filed nominations had put ‘X,’ ‘-,’ or left blank some of the columns. They should have written “not applicable” or “shoonya (zero)”. During primary examination, we had given notices about the drawbacks to candidates, when the forms had been filled up. They were asked to remove issues and submit forms before scrutiny,” Ritu Maheshwari, district election officer (DEO), said.
“Some candidates left the columns blank or did not file the SC certificate, while in some cases the details of their proposers had drawbacks. This is why 13 nomination forms were rejected. March 28 is the last day to withdraw their nomination. After March 28, the final contesting candidates will be ascertained,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“Some candidates left the columns blank or did not file the SC certificate, while in some cases the details of their proposers had drawbacks. This is why 13 nomination forms were rejected. March 28 is the last day to withdraw their nomination. After March 28, the final contesting candidates will be ascertained,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}To avoid rejection of candidature, Gen VK Singh (retired) had filed four nomination forms while Dolly Sharma had filed three. However, all their forms were found in order, the DEO said. She added that the nomination forms of another candidate, Natthu Singh Chaudhary, who had filed three forms, had improper filing and was rejected.
The 13 candidates, whose forms were rejected, were Shamsher Rana, Natthu Singh Chaudhary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Bijendra Kumar Kasana, Geeta Rani, Sonu, Ajay Kumar Rai, Dilshad, Dharmendra Singh, Anil Kumar Giri, Ashok Kumar, Manoj and Noel Shashi.
With the 13 forms rejected, only two women candidates, Dolly Sharma and Divya Yog Maya Saraswati are left in the fray.
“There were some mistakes in my form and copies of income tax return were not submitted. I went to the election office with two sets around 10.30am on March 26 but policemen stopped me from entering. This is no fault on my part. I have mailed the issue to the EC and will take legal recourse,” Shamsher Rana, an independent candidate whose form was rejected on the day of scrutiny, said.