Gujarat civic polls: BJP plea rejected

GANDHINAGAR - The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s plea to the Gujarat Election Commission seeking rejection of the Congress nominees’ candidature in the Oct 10 polls to six municipal corporations was rejected Monday.

The returning officers for the six municipal corporations of Gujarat turned down the BJP plea.

The nomination forms of the Congress candidates have been accepted, the respective returning officers said Monday night.

BJP candidates contesting the elections in the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar filed complaints against their Congress rivals before the respective returning officers stating that since they (Congress nominees) had not complied with the rules their candidature should be rejected.

Tuesday is the last day for withdrawing nominations for the elections.

Earlier, two Gujarat ministers called on the state election chief K.C. Kapoor to press for the rejecting the Congress candidates’ nomination.

Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel told mediapersons that the BJP urged the

commission to scrupulously follow the rules in the scrutiny of candidates’ papers.

According to the minister, the Congress candidates had failed to file the mandate forms duly filled-in with the election commission though the same had been filed with the returning officers.

“Since they (Congress candidates) have failed to submit the said form with the election commission, the candidates should be denied the party symbol,” he said.

Gujarat Congress president Siddarth Patel termed the objections raised by the BJP as baseless.

“The rules are very clear and we have complied with the same,” he added.