Rahul Gandhi's nomination for Amethi LS seat found valid: Returning officer
Amethi: The returning officer (RO) of Amethi Monday set aside objections on Congress president Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers filed for the seat and held the document valid, after scrutinising allegations of discrepancies over citizenship and other issues.
After hearing K C Kaushik, the Congress leader's counsel, RO Ram Manohar Misra declared Gandhi's nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat as valid.
An Independent candidate and three others had on Saturday raised objections over the Congress president's nomination from the constituency, alleging discrepancies over citizenship and educational qualifications in his election affidavit.
"There is no relevance for rejecting the nomination papers and therefore all the objections are being rejected," Misra said in his order issued Monday.
Complainant Dhruv Lal's lawyer Ravi Prakash had also submitted before the RO purported copies of a certificate of incorporation of a UK-registered company in which the Congress leader is stated to be a British national.
He had claimed that the UK company had existed for five years and would have made some profit, but that has not been disclosed in the affidavit.
Taking to media persons, Kaushik, who appeared before the RO Monday morning, said a point-wise reply addressing all objections has been submitted.
"We have requested the returning officer that the objections over citizenship have no basis and the issue of citizenship can only be looked into by a competent authority and not the RO," he said.
On objections raised over the Congress president's educational qualification, Kaushik said Gandhi did his M.Phil in 1995 from Cambridge University and a copy of it has been submitted. He had done his graduation in 1994, he added.
Responding to questions on objections with regard to the UK company, Kaushik said, "The said company was closed in 2009...and in Form 26 (details of Tax payment and TDS) of 2019, only the liabilities and assets of five years are mentioned."
Prakash had said that he sought a clarification on Gandhi's citizenship as being a UK citizen would bar him from contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
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TN Assembly elections: Eight-month pregnant homemaker wins Thiru Vi Ka Nagar seat for TVK
Chennai (PTI): Before giving birth, she had already delivered a mandate—a symbol of hope for Thiru Vi Ka Nagar.
Echoing Delhi’s 2013 “common citizen” political churn associated with the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an eight-month-pregnant homemaker, M R Pallavi, has been elected as an MLA from Chennai’s Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency, emerging as one of the notable first-time faces of the Vijay-led TVK in the recently held Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
In the narrow lanes of Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, a steady stream of media personnel has been making their way to Pallavi’s residence—a scene reminiscent of the result day in Delhi when journalists thronged the modest home of Rakhi Birla, who had won from Mangolpuri on an AAP ticket.
Pallavi, 36, a homemaker educated up to class XII, defeated the DMK candidate K S Ravichandran by a margin of 22,333 votes in the reserved Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats, while DMK and AIADMK got 59 and 47, respectively.
Pallavi’s victory has drawn attention due to her personal circumstances. She campaigned extensively while eight months pregnant, going door-to-door to reach voters.
According to local accounts, she even fainted once during the campaign but continued her outreach.
She has not spoken to the media following her victory, as doctors have advised her to rest. Her husband, Rajesh, briefly recounted her campaign efforts.
A self-professed admirer of actor-turned-politician Vijay, Pallavi joined TVK soon after its formation and is now among its first-time legislators.
Doctors have advised her to be hospitalised around May 20, as she is expecting her second child. Ahead of that, voters in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar have entrusted her with representing them in the state Assembly.
Political observers say the rise of candidates like Pallavi signals a possible shift in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with voters backing a new party and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
