Calcutta HC reprieve for TMC candidate whose nomination was rejected
Elections to Bengal’s 294 seats will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Ujjal Kumar, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from Joypur in Purulia district for the coming assembly polls got relief from the Calcutta high court on Thursday afternoon, a day after the Election Commission rejected his nomination papers on technical ground.
TMC leaders said the returning officer had rejected Ujjal Kumar’s nomination papers citing grounds that he found too technical. The candidate approached the court which, after a hearing, set aside the returning officer’s decision.
“We welcome the decision of the court. It said the papers are valid,” said a senior TMC officer who did not want to be named. He also refused to comment on the returning officer’s decision.
Ujjal Kumar could not be contacted. He is pitted against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Narahari Mahato. Purulia is one of the districts were the BJP made inroads in the 2018 panchayat and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Elections to Bengal’s 294 seats will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
The BJP has said it will oust the TMC government by winning at least 200 seats.
Political heat in Bengal is on the rise since Wednesday evening when chief minister Mamata Banerjee was injured at Nandigram in East Midnapore district where she is contesting her protégé-turn-adversary Suvendu Adhikari.
