Two BJP candidates for the UP Legislative Council bypolls are set to be declared elected unopposed to the Upper House as the nomination papers of Samajwadi Party’s candidate Kriti Kol were rejected on Tuesday on the grounds of her age.
During scrutiny, the nomination papers of the SP candidate were not found valid and rejected as she is 28 years old and does not fulfil the required age criterion of minimum 30 years for entering the Upper House, returning officer Brijbhushan Dubey said.
In her affidavit and electoral identity card, Kol mentioned her age as 28 years, which does not fulfil the minimum age criterion, he added.
Following the development, Dharmendra Singh Sainthwar and Nirmala Paswan, who filed their nominations as BJP candidates on Monday, are set to enter the Upper House unopposed.
The rejection of the nomination papers of Kol is an embarrassment and a setback for the Samajwadi Party.
As per preliminary information, it was found during scrutiny 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 but party chief Akhilesh Yadav was conspicuous by his absence.
The shortcoming 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 the tribal background, from the official Twitter account of the party.
However, SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said he has no information why Kol’s nomination papers were rejected. “It is not easy to compete with the BJP in UP as they adopt all possible tricks to win the elections. Even as the victory of the BJP on both the seats is a foregone conclusion, the political observers are intrigued as to why the SP fielded Kol despite lacking the numbers. Moreover, the byelections to the Upper House are invariably won by the ruling party on account of the strength in the assembly.