Vidisha: Cong candidates nomination rejected

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swarajs poll chances in Vidisha got a major boost late on Monday when her Congress rival Rajkumar Patels nomination....

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swarajs poll chances in Vidisha got a major boost late on Monday when her Congress rival Rajkumar Patels nomination was rejected on technical grounds.

Patel,a former education minister and a veteran of several elections,is now in trouble as his party is likely to initiate disciplinary action against him. Swaraj was not expected to face any serious challenge in Vidisha,considered a BJP bastion,but the presence of a rival from a national party saw her address scores of meetings over the past few days.

Patel had not submitted the original A form while filing his nomination in the office of returning officer at Raisen on Saturday. When the anomaly was noticed an hour before the deadline,the party rushed a fresh set of papers from Bhopal but could make it only after 3 pm.

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The returning officer did not accept the original and reserved his decision. After daylong arguments,which concluded late in the night,Raisen Collector Sandeep Yadav held his ground and rejected the nomination.

Its my angipariksha, Patel told The Indian Express but swore by his loyalty to the Gandhi family. He said he would stand by any decision the party takes.

The Congress had given a proper set of papers to Patel on March 29 but he chose to file his nomination an hour before the deadline. While waiting for the fresh papers to arrive from Bhopal,he even made his brother Devkumar Patel,a former MLA,to file his nomination as an Independent candidate.

He said now he would campaign for his brother. MPCC chief Suresh Pachauri said he would wait for the result to be conveyed to him officially before talking of disciplinary action against Patel.