The Rashtriya Janata Dal suffered a fresh setback on Wednesday as the Election Commission cancelled the nomination papers of its Mohania candidate ahead of the Bihar elections. RJD leader Shweta Suman broke down in tears upon receiving the update — telling reporters that the poll body had been “forced” to make this decision. Members of the Opposition INDIA bloc will also see about a dozen ‘friendly fights’ after failing to finalise a seat-sharing arrangement for the polls.
“Pressure was constantly being placed on the RO and CO from Delhi. They were forced to make this decision. They said they were helpless… The BJP, PM Modi, and Amit Shah were the ones putting pressure. Who else would be putting the pressure? … I will definitely go to court,” said Suman.
She also accused the Election Commission of ‘favouring’ BJP candidate Sangeeta Kumari by relaxing submission deadlines. Suman said the latter had also faced ‘irregularities’ in her candidature and submitted her caste certificate well after the notification date.
Hundreds of nominations rejected
According to reports, the Election Commission rejected the nominations of approximately 1000 candidates (individual or party-affiliated) while scrutinising papers for both phases of polling. The lengthy list also includes renowned Bhojpuri film actress and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate Seema Singh and Vikassheel Insaan Party nominee Shashi Bhushan Singh.
The scrutiny of papers takes place after the nomination window is closed for each phase of elections. The affected parties will not be able to submit a ‘replacement’ candidate since the deadline for candidature has already passed by that time.
Mahagathbandhan gears up for ‘friendly fights’
The Mahagathbandhan has about 12 seats where at least two allies have filed nominations. This notion of a friendly fight has invited criticism from the NDA alliance. LJP Leader Chirag Paswan said that the alliance had collapsed before the first ballot could be cast.
