Nagpur graduates' poll: Sudhakar Kohle's nomination valid, objections rejected; 54 in fray
The returning officer dismissed objections to the BJP candidate's affidavit; voting is on October 23 and counting on October 27, with polling stations raised to 246 in Nagpur district.
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Nomination papers filed for the Nagpur division graduates' constituency election were scrutinised on Wednesday. During the scrutiny, opponents of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sudhakar Kohle lodged objections to his affidavit.
Divisional Commissioner and Returning Officer Vijayalakshmi Bidari rejected all the objections and accepted Kohle's nomination. Applications of all the other 54 candidates have also been accepted.
The objection to Kohle's affidavit alleged that incorrect details had been given about his assets and other information. Bidari clarified that a legal objection to an affidavit can be raised even after the election. For this reason, his application has been accepted for now.
Voting for the election will be held on October 23 and counting on October 27. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9. Among the 54 candidates in the fray, the prominent names are Kohle of the BJP, Abhijeet Wanjari of the Congress, BJP rebel Anil Sole and Mangesh Wankhede of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
For the first time in the history of the graduates' constituency, the number of polling stations has been increased substantially. Nagpur district had 139 polling stations last time, and the number has now been raised to 246. Earlier, 1,200 voters could vote at one polling booth, but the limit is now 650 to 750 voters per booth. As the number of voters has risen across the Nagpur division, polling stations have been increased in the other districts as well.
The last date for voter registration for the election was September 26. Applications were accepted both online and offline. A cap of 30 forms was set on applications submitted together.
A record 87,794 applications came in during the last four days of registration. In all, 96,518 applications were approved in the process, while 1,241 were rejected.
Applicants faced server outages and technical difficulties uploading documents during online applications. In view of this, the election department accepted forms in bulk, in line with the rules. After the forms are checked at the zonal level, the final list of eligible and ineligible applicants will be published on the website.
