BJP, Congress Seek Saraka's Nomination Cancelled Over 'Faulty' Data

Rayagada, Apr 26: Tension ran high at the Office of the Returning Officer, Rayagada here as Congress and BJP candidates for the Bissam Cuttack Assembly seat demanded the cancellation of the nomination paper of BJD nominee Jagannath Saraka, citing faults in his copies.

The BJP and Congress nominees complained to the scrutiny officer that Saraka furnished income tax data for the 2023-24 Financial Year, while data for five years is a requisite for validating a nomination paper.

"This is a violation of law. Thus, his candidature should be declared void," demanded the MLA candidates of the two parties.
As the scrutiny officer understandably validated Saraka's nomination paper, his rival candidates submitted a written complaint to the district Collector, seeking the cancellation of the ruling party candidate's nomination paper without delay.

The two opponents have threatened to approach the State Electoral Officer and the Central Election Commission if Saraka's candidature is not invalidated.