Maharashtra polls: Why Congress demanding rejection of Fadnavis' nomination

Nagpur, Oct 5: The Congress on Saturday demanded rejection of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' nomination paper affidavit for the state assembly polls claiming the date of the notary seal on it "expired" last December.

The BJP has dismissed the allegation and said it was a "mistake" on part of the notary.

Fadnavis had filed his nomination papers as a BJP candidate for Nagpur South West seat on Friday. His Congress opponent Ashish Deshmukh said the seal on the affidavit states that the term of the notary, a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs like witnessing signatures on documents, expired on "28-12-2018".

Deshmukh said the concerned returning officer (RO), Shekhar Ghadge, should have rejected the form as well as Fadnavis' candidature but had failed to do so, and alleged government pressure for the inaction.

Deshmukh cited a supreme court judgement to the RO to demand the rejection of Fadnavis' nomination papers. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate also approached the RO on the issue. Meanwhile, brushing aside the allegations, BJP leader Sandip Joshi said the expiry date on the notarial seal was a mistake and it should have actually been "28-12-2023".

"The date (28-12-2018) mentioned on the seal of the notary is true. The notary had not changed his seal and stamped on the papers. The notary has valid extension letter till 28-12-2023," he told reporters.

PTI