Katiyar files nomination from Rae Bareli

Rae Baerli (UP), Apr 20: BJP candidate for the May 8 Rae Bareli parliamentary bypoll Vinay Katiyar today filed his nomination from the constituency.

Katiyar reached the Collectorate around 1200 hrs and filed four sets of nomination papers.

The proposers of his name are Rakesh Pratap Singh, Ajay Pal Singh, Girish Narain Pandey and Rajaram Tyagi.

Senior BJP leaders Pramod Mahajan, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and UP BJP unit president Keshri Nath Tripathi were present on the occasion.

Talking to newspersons later, Mr Mahajan alleged Congress president Sonia Gandhi had forced the bypoll on the Rae Baerli electorate.

''Ms Gandhi was termed 'apostle of sacrifice' after she resigned her Rae Baerli seat. But, now she is again in the fray for her Lok Sabha membership,'' he charged.

Mr Mahajan claimed the BJP nominee (Katiyar) had filed his papers on the last day of filing nominations under a strategy of the party.

To a poser, he said Sonia's foreign origins was the main bypoll issue of the party, apart from terrorism and UPA government's failure on all fronts.

UNI