UP MLC bypolls: Setback for SP as candidate’s nomination gets rejected, advantage BJP

Ahead of the August 11 bypolls, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party suffered a big blow as the nomination of its candidate Kirti Kol was rejected on Tuesday. 

Kol’s nomination was rejected on the grounds of her being ineligible due to age criteria. She had mentioned her age as 28 years. The minimum age for contesting the election to the legislative council is 30 years. 

The SP candidate moving out of the fray now means that the BJP will have two of its candidates – Dharmendra Senthawar and Nirmala Paswan – getting elected unopposed to the upper house.

The two seats set for byelections were vacated by BJP’s Thakur Jaiveer Singh who resigned after winning in the bygone Assembly elections and SP’s Ahmad Hassan who passed away.

Kol’s nomination paper was deemed invalid as her affidavit and electoral identity card mentioned her age as 28 years, which does not fulfill the required minimum age criterion, Election Officer Brijbhushan Dubey said.

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(With inputs from agencies)