Continuing the attack on Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajya Sabha nominee, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken on Saturday filed an objection to the candiature of ND Gupta for allegedly holding an office of profit. Gupta is among the three nominees selected by AAP for the Rajya Sabha seat.
In his objection filed with the Retuning Officer, Maken says that Gupta is "currently holding the office of a Trustee of the National Pension System Trust. He was appointed on March 30". Gupta, along with two other Rajya Sabha candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party, Sanjay Singh and Sushil Gupta, had filed nomination papers on January 4. The nominations were scrutinised on Saturday.
"N D Gupta's nomination is liable to be rejected under Section 36 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 read with Article 102 of the Constitution," Maken claimed.
A practicing Chartered Accountant (CA), ND Gupta is first ever Indian to be elected on the Board of International Federation of Accountants, USA (a federation of 164 regulatory accounting bodies of 116 countries). He is considered a foremost expert on GST and has authored several books on accountancy and business. According to the party, he mobilized generous support and help from a professional colleague, and a modest contribution of Rs. 51 lakhs was made to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
Refuting Maken's allegations, AAP claimed that all this was done to gain "cheap publicity". "Section 3, clause (L) of Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, gives exemption to trustee from disqualification under office of profit. Also, an RO (Returning Officer) is not a competent authority to adjudicate on OoP, EC is. Frivolous objections to gain cheap publicity by Congress," AAP leader Raghav Chadha tweeted.
The party is already facing criticism over the selection of another candidate, Sushil Gupta, who was earlier associated with the Congress party.
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