Bhopal: A day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath filed his nomination for the Chhindwara assembly bypoll, the BJP has objected to his election affidavit in which the Congress veteran leader claimed he does not have any criminal cases against him.
The BJP on Wednesday afternoon submitted a complaint to the EC, stating that Nath had not mentioned the FIR filed against him in connection with the Vyapam scam last year.
“It is apparent that Mr Kamal Nath has deliberately concealed the substantial information relating to his criminal antecedents in the nomination paper, FIR no. 176/2018 is registered at the police station Shyamla Hills, Bhopal under sections –465, 468, 469, 471, 472, 474 and 120-B of the IPC, as is mandatory as per the norms to be mentioned in the nomination paper,” the BJP in its complaint said.
The party urged the EC to reject the nomination papers of Kamal Nath.
BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari told News18 the BJP has handed copies of complaint to CEO MP and District Returning Officer Chhindwara Shriniwas Sharma. In the election affidavit filed at the Collectorate’s office in Chhindwara, Nath wrote ‘Not Applicable’ against the column which requires candidates to declare details of any police or court case filed against them.
“On the directives of a local court, an FIR was lodged against Kamal Nath and other senior leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia at Shaymla Hills police station in Bhopal last year,” BJP state convener and Legal Cell advocate Santosh Sharma told News18.
The Shaymla Hill police had last year lodged the FIR against the Congress leaders, including Nath, and whistleblower Prashant Pandey. The petitioner in the case, Santosh Sharma, had at the time told the court that the Congress leaders had tried to mislead the Supreme Court and High Court in the Vyapam scam case by forging evidence.
The Legal Cell chairman of the MP Congress JP Dhanopia, however, laughed off the objections and said that issue did not hold water. “When the person concerned hasn’t received any legal notice about the said case, then there is no point mentioning the details of the case in the election affidavit,” Dhanopia said.
“Though the rules permit candidates to correct the affidavit and even replace it at the time of nomination scrutiny, this won’t be required in Nath’s case,” Dhanopia added.
Nath submitted his nomination on Tuesday for Chhindwara assembly by-poll after the seat was vacated by his staunch loyalist, Deepak Saxena, so that the nine-time MP could get elected to the MP assembly.
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