Cong-CPI men clueless about ‘withdrawal’ of nominations

The nominations of the two parties in Khara block samiti too stand “withdrawn”. As many as nine block samiti members were elected unopposed — eight of Akalis and one BJP — in the Faridkot-Kotkapura blocks as nominations were either withdrawn or rejected.

As the tip-off of “withdrawal without consent” reached the Congress,it got its zila parishad candidate Amrit Lal,contesting against Kultar Singh Brar,younger brother of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mantar Singh Brar,hospitalised as a proof that he did not walk up to the returning officer’s office to withdraw his nomination. “The hospitalisation record was shown to the ADC — returning officer for zila parishad polls — to save my candidature,” says the 60-year-old former sarpanch.

Incidentally,Mantar Brar is CPS in the Department for Rural Development and Panchayats.

The CPI candidates whose nominations were said to be withdrawn — of 19 who had filed nominations for block samiti,just eight remain — are protesting outside the DC office in Faridkot demanding their nominations be restored.

“We had contested for 19 block samiti seats and 11 have been declared as withdrawn. We met the poll in-charge and told him the signatures on the withdrawal forms do not match those on the nomination papers. As CPS holding the charge of panchayats department,Mantar Brar is trying to ensure most block samiti members are elected unopposed to ensure a win for his brother,” CPI district secretary Pawanpreet Singh said.

Returning officer for Kotkapura,tehsildar Darshan Singh,says some candidates had signed on the withdrawal forms while filing the nominations. On why were the nominations not rejected on scrutiny a day before withdrawal of nominations,he says they only checked necessary documents on the day of scrutiny. “On the last day of withdrawal of nominations (May 9),we found out some candidates had signed on the withdrawal forms in their nomination papers. I had no option but to declare them as withdrawn. A total of 33 were declared withdrawn on the last day,” he said.

Congress incharge for Faridkot,former MLA Kushaldeep Dhillon,says the statement of the tehsildar nails the lie. “If the candidates had signed on the withdrawal form on the day of submitting the nomination,they should have been rejected there and then. How did it escape the RO’s eyes even on the day of scrutiny of nominations. To prove that the nominations were withdrawn,they got the forms signed by false candidates in the presence of an advocate and a notary. We have filed a criminal complaint against the advocate and the notary with the SSP,Faridkot. Both chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal have been making statements that they want a fair poll. But they do not want us to even contest the polls,” Dhillon said.

Both the CPI and Congress said they will challenge the “withdrawal” and rejection of nominations in the Punjab and Haryana High Court .

A controversy is also raging over rejection of nominations. In the remaining two zila parishad zones in Faridkot,one went unopposed to SAD candidate after nomination of Congress candidate Nacchatar Singh was rejected for “not declaring his conviction in a court case”. Singh alleges the acquittal order of court attached to the nomination papers was discarded,a charge refuted by ADC Mohan Lal. “He did not declare that he was convicted in the declaration form and when an objection was raised,his nomination was rejected,” he said.

Most of the nominations have been rejected on grounds of candidates not furnishing affidavits. Opposition candidates claim there were officials in offices for last four days for giving no due slips — one that specifies there are no pending loan dues. Faridkot DC Ravi Bhagat says nominations were rejected only for concealing facts. “One candidate for zila parishad concealed his conviction and another had furnished a false affidavit on a cooperative loan. As for withdrawal of nominations,the final power to say that a nomination stands withdrawn lies with the returning officer. They have met the poll observer and he is looking into the complaints,” he said.