Karan Dalal files nomination without Cong naming him

Karan Singh Dalal of the Congress and Gaurav Gautam of the BJP filed their nominations from Palwal Assembly segment of Haryana on Monday.

Incidentally, Dalal's candidature is yet to be declared by the Congress and he has become the first candidate from the party to file papers despite his name not being released officially. A former minister, he has assured of getting the Congress letter of ticket allotment submitted by September 12, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, Gautam has been fielded by the BJP for the first time and has replaced Deepak Mangla, who had won first election as MLA in 2019 by defeating Dalal.

A five-time MLA, Dalal had won from here for the first time in 1991 and then again in 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2014. He has declared assets of around Rs 34.09 crore, up from around Rs 29 crore in 2014, according to details furnished in the affidavit submitted with the election department. Former CM and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is learnt to have visited Dalal's office after the nomination to show his support.

Talking to The Tribune , Dalal, said: "Ajay Maken, head of the selection committee had conveyed to him  that he had been the only candidate whose name has been cleared  by the  Central Election Committee already." He said while there is a provision to file the papers before the declaration of the ticket by the party, adding that he filed it to avoid any last moment rush.

Claiming that he was not in position to withdraw his candidature as he had already announced to contest the election and did not want to disappoint his supporters in the constituency.

While the announcement of his candidature had been held up due to certain technical reasons, which included the tie-up expectations with the AAP, he said he had planned to file the papers on September 9, and delaying it was not possible anymore.  He said the documents related to the filing of papers will be submitted with the authorities as per the norms and he had given in writing to the election officials.

On the other hand, the BJP candidate has shown movable assets of around Rs 93.89 lakh. He has no immovable assets.