BJP cries foul over rejection of papers

The nomination papers of about one-third candidates of the BJP have been rejected, the state unit claimed here on Monday.

Party general secretary Anil Sarin and media cell head Vineet Joshi said despite all odds and “misuse of power” by the AAP government, 1,242 BJP candidates would contest in the zila parishad and block samiti elections.

“This is not an election. This is dictatorship. Our candidates were threatened by the police and relatives of many were picked up to force the candidates into submission. But we have stood our ground, forcing the government to reject papers on flimsy grounds,” said Anil Sarin.

Vineet Joshi said the party had filed 1,932 nomination papers, but 690, about one-third, had been rejected.

For 2,863 block samiti seats, the BJP had named 1,648 candidates, out of which 1,045 nominations had been accepted. For the 357 zila parishad seats, there were 284 nominations by BJP candidates, of which 197 were now left in the fray.