Outside Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence; with Sitaram Yechury at CPM office in Delhi. Express Photo by Anil Sharma
While the ruling alliance and the Opposition are yet to declare their Presidential nominees, 13 individuals have already filed nominations for the upcoming election. Many of them don’t fulfil even the basic criteria and won’t be able to contest.
Six such people filed nomination papers Friday. None of them, however, fulfilled the primary criteria of furnishing a certified copy of an entry relating to them in the electoral roll of the Parliamentary Constituency where he/she is registered as an elector. They also did not deposit the nomination fee of Rs 15,000.
On Wednesday, the first day of nominations, six candidates filed seven nomination papers, with one of them filing two. The next day, only one person filed nomination papers.
“During every Presidential poll, 80-90 nominations are filed. Most of them are eventually rejected, while a few withdraw. People file nominations knowing that they won’t cross even the initial stages.
Leaving L K Advani’s residence after holding discussions( Express Photo by Oinam Anand)
During scrutiny, almost all, except those proposed by political parties, are rejected for failing to furnish details of 50 proposers and 50 seconders. Even this time, none of the persons who have filed nominations has been able to furnish details of 100 electors,” a source told The Indian Express.
Slamming the political class, some candidates have written in nomination papers that they don’t want to take the support of such MLAs an MPs for the dignified post of the President. These nomination papers have been displayed on a board outside the Lok Sabha General Secretary’s office in Parliament House.
One candidate has said “a layman like me cannot obtain 100 signatures” and questioned the need for proposers and seconders. He has said he is “crazy”, adding that “one should be crazy if essential”.
Mohammed Patel Abdul Hamid and his wife Saira Bano filed their nomination papers Wednesday. Asked by officials if both would run for President, they said they wanted to ensure that at least one was in the race if the other’s nomination was rejected.
Among those who have filed nominations is K Padmarajan from Tamil Nadu, who has unsuccessfully contested over 150 elections, including the last Presidential poll.
Outside M M Joshi’s residence. Express Photo by Oinam Anand
Having earned the sobriquet of “Election King”, he has contested against many bigwigs and his name figures in the Limca Book of Records.
Padmarajan has met the criteria of having deposited the nomination fee and submitting a copy of the document that shows his name in the electoral list of the parliamentary constituency he belongs to. Abdul Hamid and Saira Bano, too, have fulfilled the requirements. However, as none of them has submitted the list of proposers and seconders, it’s a matter of time before their nominations are rejected during scrutiny.
Bhagwat meets President
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday met President Pranab Mukherjee over lunch at Rashtrapati Bhawan, fuelling speculation about it being linked to the upcoming elections. While both sides described the meeting as a courtesy call, the RSS in a press release said Bhagwat visited the President at his invitation. Rashtrapati Bhawan sources, however, said it was Bhagwat who sought an appointment and it had been scheduled one-and-a-half months ago.
