BJP seeking to cancel nomination of two Trinamool candidates sparks row in Bengal

BJP seeking to cancel nomination of two Trinamool candidates sparks row in Bengal

Kolkata: A war of words erupted in West Bengal after the state unit of the BJP approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) demanding cancellation of nominations of two Trinamool Congress candidates: Calcutta’s Mala Roy Dakshin and Haji Nurul Islam of Basirhat.

The BJP claimed that since Mala Roy is also the chairperson of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is an “office of profit”, she should have resigned from the post before filing her nomination papers.

Roy refuted the BJP’s argument by saying that she was KMC president even when she contested and won the Kolkata Dakshin seat in 2019.

“So why the late wake-up call?” Since 2019, I have not received any salary as KMC president. The BJP knows for sure that it will be defeated in the elections and hence it is trying to malign me and my party on baseless issues,” Roy told the media on Wednesday evening.

However, West Bengal BJP general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay argued that even if Roy claims that she does not draw any salary as KMC president, she will not be out of the ambit of the ‘office of the profit “.

“Even the use of office infrastructure falls under this umbrella,” argued Chattopadhyay.

On Islam, the BJP argued that since he was the Trinamool MP from Basirhat from 2009 to 2014, he should have attached a “no dues certificate” with his nomination papers because, according to the rules, any person occupying a public position must produce a “certificate of absence of contributions” issued by the government over the last 10 years.

For his part, Islam said that after serving as a Trinamool MP from 2009 to 2014, he also served as an MP.

“No one has raised this issue against me before. The BJP is doing this out of fear of defeat,” Islam said.

CPI-M central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, on the other hand, supported Chattopadhya’s arguments and said, “Appointment should be canceled if ‘no dues certificate’ is not attached.” Earlier, the nomination of the first BJP candidate from Birbhum was canceled on the same grounds. Similarly, Mala Roy’s candidature should also be canceled in case of any lapse in the filing process.”