NOIDA: In a setback for the Aam Aadmi Party the nomination of its candidate Shweta Sharma, who was fielded from Gautam Budh Nagar (GBN) constituency, has been disqualified on Tuesday.
The AAP will have no candidate as March 25 was the last day for filing nominations. Sharma’s was among the eight nominations rejected by poll officials due to discrepancies, technical errors and a lack of requisite papers after scrutiny.
According to the GBN district magistrate, who is also the Returning Officer, Sharma did not have the required number of proposers to back her candidature. “She had mentioned only one proposer in her form,” said BN Singh. “A national party or a state-recognized party requires a single backer. However, it is not in the case of AAP, and 10 proposers were needed to back the candidate.”
“The lack of the required proposers was a substantial flaw despite her being given plenty of opportunities to complete her nomination papers till 3 pm on March 25. But, when we found on scrutiny of her nomination papers today that the requisite support was missing, her nomination was disqualified.”
Shweta alleged a conspiracy by the opposition. “My papers were rejected under section 33(4) of The Representation of the People Act. There was deliberate misinformation given to me at the behest of the opposition and they had a major role to play in the rejection of my papers,” she claimed. “However, I am not de-motivated and I will continue my fight against corruption, empowerment of women and betterment of the education system.”
Shweta, the lone woman candidate for the seat, was to face BJP leader Mahesh Sharma, among others. Shweta is a professor with an MBA in Human Resources, an M.Phil, and is pursuing a PhD.
The other candidates whose nominations were rejected included four independents. Now there are 13 candidates in the fray. The GBN constituency has over 22 lakh voters and goes to polls on April 11.