KOLKATA: The Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against the BJP-nominated candidate Hasirani Rath from the high-voltage West Bengal’s Nandigram assembly constituency in Purba Medinipur district for the upcoming bypoll on October 6.
Bringing serious charges of discrepancies in connection with Hasirani’s age and academic qualification, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) has demanded the ECI conduct an impartial inquiry to probe the allegations.
In a statement issued by the WBPCC, state president Subhankar Sarkar on Tuesday alleged that the national poll body has not yet taken steps despite serious discrepancies related to Hasirani’s academic qualifications and age being found as per the affidavit filed by the BJP candidate.
Rubbing off the allegations made by the Congress, the state BJP has slammed its rival for making such a false negative campaign against the saffron party candidate.
The BJP said that it is an ‘unsuccessful attempt’ by the Congress, which is all set to face defeat again in Nandigram this time.
According to the allegations levelled by the Congress, Hasirani has mentioned her age as 60 years in the affidavit and, at the same time, as per the same document, the year of passing the Madhyamik Examination is 1965. As a result, there are discrepancies between her age and year of passing the examination, the Congress claimed.
The Congress has also alleged that Hasirani has mentioned, as per the affidavit, the name of Chowkhali Ganga Padma Milan Kanya Vidyapith, from where she has passed the Madhyamik Examination. But the school had no government recognition for Class X standard during 1965, it alleged.
The BJP countered the Congress, claiming that there is no age-related problem with Hasirani. She was a student of Class X in 1980, the ruling party said, adding, “Owing to a typographical mistake in the affidavit of the candidate, the problem was created.”
Hasirani’s election office in Nandigram claimed that she has passed the matriculation examination from the same school under the system of Madhyamik Examination in Bengal during that period. She was born in 1965 and studied in Class X in 1980, it claimed.
On the other hand, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked the Bengal government to ensure that Congress’ Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan is allowed to contest the election properly, provided he secures bail in the five criminal cases in which he has been arrested.
Milan was sent to judicial custody on Saturday by the Haldia Sub-Divisional Court till October 3 in connection with four pending non-bailable arrest warrants linked to cases in Nandigram dating back to 2007. On Monday, the Contai court sent the Congress candidate to 14-day judicial custody, till October 5, in a case under the Arms Act registered nearly two decades ago.
Campaigning for the bypoll ends on October 4, while votes will be counted on October 9.
His lawyer, Ayan Bhattacharjee, had said he would challenge the Contai court’s order before the Calcutta High Court.
The High Court was hearing an application filed by Pradhan on Monday seeking protection from coercive action in six cases registered against him. The state informed the court that five of these had been withdrawn by the previous government and that Pradhan was not wanted in the sixth.
The lawyer submitted that he was arrested on September 18 in connection with cases lodged during the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007, only after the Congress candidate received support from the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the TMC for the bypoll.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya verbally told Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar, representing the state, that Pradhan should be allowed to contest the election properly, provided he gets bail.