In a major setback and embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party (SP), the nomination papers of its candidate for the Legislative Council bypolls, Kirti Kol, were rejected on Tuesday.
Consequently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates — Nirmala Paswan and Dharmendra Singh — are set to win unopposed.
As per preliminary information, during the scrutiny, it was found that Kol was less than 30 years old.
Earlier on Monday, the SP and BJP candidates had filed their nomination papers.
Several senior SP leaders accompanied Kol, however, party chief Akhilesh Yadav remained absent.
The laxity in Kol’s nomination papers raises questions on the seriousness of the SP in making her their candidate.
The SP had announced the name of Kirti Kol, who comes from tribal background, from the official Twitter account of the party.
Anurag Bhaduaria, SP spokesperson, while speaking to News18, said he has no information why the nomination was rejected. “It is not easy to compete with the BJP in UP as they adopt all possible ways — be it illegal or legal — against the opposition parties. We will see why the papers were rejected.”
Although the win of the BJP on both the seats was considered almost certain, many people also wondered why the SP fielded Kol, despite not having adequate numbers.
UP BJP spokesperson Alok Awasthi blamed the SP for the fiasco. “How did the SP not know the required age was more than 30 years? The SP fielded a candidate irresponsibly.”
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