Legislative Council polls: Nomination papers of two SP candidates rejected

Nomination papers of two Samajwadi Party candidates for the elections to the Legislative Council were rejected during the scrutiny on Tuesday, paving the way for the unopposed victory of BJP nominees.

The nomination papers of Udayvir Singh and Rakesh Yadav besides that of an independent were rejected during the scrutiny, officials said.

The papers of the three were having certain shortcomings and Returning Officer Ankit Kumar Agarwal has rejected them, officials said.

Udayvir Singh and Rakesh Yadav were fielded by the SP from Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri local authorities constituencies.

The cancellation of their papers will pave the way for the victory of BJP candidates.

BJP's Ashish Yadav and Omprakash Singh are all set to win unopposed but an official announcement of this will be made on March 24 after the completion of the process.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet shared a video, in which SP candidates are seen ''being stopped'' from entering the collectorate compound in Etah in the presence of police, with abuses being heard in the background.

''Expecting to protect democracy under the BJP rule ....is like finding stars in the daytime. This is a very condemnable form of muscle power, either the nomination forms will not be allowed to be filed or the election or results will be affected. Fear of defeat crushes public opinion,'' Akhilesh said in the tweet.

After the high-octane state Assembly polls, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party are once again locked in a keen contest for 36 seats of the state Legislative Council scheduled for April 9.