41 nominations rejected, SAD, AAP workers protest

Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 7

The day of scrutiny of the nomination papers for the Patiala Municipal Corporation polls was marred by protests.

Senior leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bhartiya Janta Party and the Aam Aadmi Party staged a dharna outside the office of the Patiala Deputy Commissioner for almost three hours, alleging foul play in the scrutiny.

The nomination papers of ward no 41 candidate Seema Sharma of the BJP and Navneet Walia of the SAD were cancelled today and the leaders have alleged that it was done at the behest of senior Congress leaders to ensure safe win for the Congress candidates.

The protestors, led by senior SAD leader Surjit Singh Rakhra,  raised slogans against the administration and the government machinery. They said it was murder of the democracy, as the papers were rejected without a reason.

Other senior leaders, including SAD MLA Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra, Satbir Singh khatra, Dr Balbir Singh, Harpal Juneja and SK Dev, also joined the protest and demanded re-evaulation of the papers.

Rakhra said the Congress government had failed to do even a single thing in the CM city even after nine months of being elected. He said Congress councillors feared the fact that they would not be able to justify this, so the government resorted to cancelling the nomination of candidates so that their councillors could win without competition. 

Meanwhile, the protestors lifted the dharna after DC Kumar Amit assured them that their complaint would be forwarded to the Election Commission.