UP Shiv Sena candidates' nominations illegally rejected: Sena MP

Mumbai: For the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls, nominations filed six or seven candidates of the Shiv Sena were illegally rejected by the respective magistrates, MP Sanjay Raut of the party alleged on Sunday. Raut told the media that he was going to meet Election Commission regarding the matter and submit all the required documents, PTI reported.

Raut alleged that the nominations were rejected in six to seven constituencies in Noida, Bijnor and Meerut, where the magistrates misused their powers due to "pressure", seeking against Siv Sena entering UP. The submitted documents were fine and were filed on time, he said. In Bijnor, the situation was similar to Goa, where a Sena candidate objected to Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's candidature. There the authorities settled the issue in Sawant's favour, but in UP, Sena candidates are not being allowed to respond to the objections, Raut said.

Further, he said that some of the Sena candidates are being threatened in UP to withdraw their nominations. He took a veiled dig on BJP that some fears Sena candidates might win against theirs or enure their loss.

This is not democracy, and elections should be free and fair, Raut said.

Assembly elections will be held in 403 seated UP through seven phases starting from February 10 to March 7. Vote counting will be held on March 10.

On Martyrs Day, when Raut was asked about Rahul Gandhi's tweet that said Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindutvawadi, he said that a Hindutvawadi might kill Jinnah who demanded a separate country, Pakistan, but not an unarmed Gandhi.