The nomination of Dinesh Bajaj, a TMC-supported independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls, was cancelled on Tuesday after his affidavit was found to be incomplete.
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The scrutiny of the papers was held in the Assembly during the day. The Secretary of the Assembly, who is the returning officer, said the nomination stands cancelled. Mr. Bajaj, a former TMC MLA, had filed the papers on March 13, almost at the eleventh hour, and was seen running through the Assembly corridors trying to submit them in time.
The nomination has raised questions whether the Left and the Congress MLAs can elect Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya to the Upper House. With the developments on Tuesday, there is hardly any contest left for the five seats for which there are five candidates — four from the Trinamool and one from the Left-Congress.
“There was an attempt of horse trading of MLAs by the ruling party. The nomination filed by Dinesh Bajaj was illegal. We are happy that the Election Commission took note of our objections and cancelled it,” Mr. Bhattacharya told journalists. He said there would now be no requirement for election.
The last date of withdrawal of nominations is March 18 after which the five candidates are likely to be announced winners. The four TMC nominees are Mausam Benazir Noor, Arpita Ghosh, Dinesh Trivedi and Subrata Bakshi. Except Mr. Bakshi, who is the general secretary of the party, all the three had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
