BJP urges EC to cancel nominations of TMC candidates Mala Roy, Haji Nurul Islam

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BJP on Wednesday has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to cancel nominations of two Trinamul Congress candidates Mala Roy and Haji Nurul Islam because both of them didn’t allegedly submit all valid documents to the national poll panel while filing nomination papers.

Mrs Roy is contesting Lok Sabha in Kolkata South constituency while Mr Islam has been fielded in Bashirhat seat in North 24-Parganas district. The two constituencies will go for polls in the last phase, scheduled on 1 June.

The Bengal BJP during a press conference today said that the party leadership has already lodged complaints against their rival Trinamul Congress candidates Mrs Roy and Mr Islam with the ECI.

On 26 April, the commission had cancelled the nomination of former IPS officer Debashis Dhar, nominated by BJP in Birbhum LS constituency because he could not produce a ‘no dues’ certificate issued by the state government to the poll panel during filing of his nomination papers. Challenging the ECI decision, Mr Dhar had moved the Supreme Court but failed to win the legal battle in the apex court.

Today, the saffron party alleged Mrs Roy filed her nomination without tendering resignation from the post of chairperson of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). She has violated the model code of conduct (MCC) of the ECI, the opposition party alleged.

Mrs Roy’s rival candidate Deboshree Chowdhury of BJP in Kolkata South constituency has lodged complaints against the former with the commission.

On the other hand, Mr Islam couldn’t also submit a ‘no dues’ certificate to the commission while filing an affidavit along with his nomination paper. He was a Trinamul Congress MP for five years from 2009.

Rekha Patha, the BJP candidate for Basirhat seat, has filed a complaint with the election commission urging it to cancel the nomination of Mr Islam.

After the cancellation of nomination of Mr Dhar, the saffron party nominated Debtanu Bhattacharya, the Birbhum district leader.

Mr Dhar resigned from the service in March but he is yet to be relieved from the state government.