Kejriwal waits 6 hours to file papers
NEWDELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal filed his nomination for the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections from the New Delhi seat on Tuesday after waiting six hours at the office of the returning officer, with 65 others also filing their papers.
The total number of contestants from New Delhi is now 93. The final number of contestants on the seat would only be known after Friday, the last date of withdrawal of nominations.
On Tuesday, the Delhi chief minister, waiting with token number 45, had at least 10 former contractual employees of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), around five cab drivers, at least four social workers who participated in the India Against Corruption Movement in 2011, and a national-level hockey player, who played a
AAP SEES ‘DELAYING TACTICS’, BJP DENIES ROLE
cameo in the movie ‘Chak De! India’, ahead of him.
During the wait outside the Returning Officer’s (RO) room in New Delhi’s Jamnagar House, Kejriwal took to social media to give updates about the process. Around 2.30pm, Kejriwal tweeted his token number – suggesting that there were 44 candidates before him in the queue.
His tweet triggered a brief row on social media when his party colleagues Manish Sisodia and Saurabh Bharadwaj indicated that this could be a conspiracy.
Sisodia accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of sending bogus candidates to delay the nomination process.
“We have learnt that a group of around 50 candidates would come to the RO’s office every day, take tokens but refuse to file nomination papers. They deliberately waited for the day when the CM arrived in the RO’s office” said Bharadwaj, who is also the AAP’s national spokesperson.
Responding to Bharadwaj’s tweet, Kejriwal said, “It does not matter. Many of them are filing for the first time. We should handhold them. I am enjoying waiting with them. They are all part of my family.”
The district election officer denied any ‘deliberate delay’.