Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday demanded the cancellation of the nomination of BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, who is pitted against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram, as his name also "seems to appear" in the electoral roll of Haldia constituency.
This development came barely days after Adhikari, once a close aide of Banerjee, demanded cancellation of the TMC supremo's nomination from the Nandigram seat.
Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 mentions that no person shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one constituency.
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It also appears that Adhikari had applied to migration of his name from Haldia assembly constituency to Nandigram constituency, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said, by providing "false particulars of his residence".
He claimed that this became evident as Adhikari was found to be 'absent' at the time of field visit by a booth level officer (BLO) for verification.
The TMC MP claimed that Adhikari has not resided at Nandanayakbar village, which falls under Nandigram constituency, over the past six months, "let alone being a permanent resident thereof".
"As per Section 19 of the RP Act, only a person who is 'ordinarily resident' in a constituency may be registered as a voter in the electoral rolls of such constituency. Hence he is not entitled to 'migration' and his migration is bad in law," the letter read.
The TMC leader said the Electoral Registration Officer should forthwith delete the name of Adhikari from the electoral roll of the Nandigram assembly constituency and urged appropriate legal action, including criminal proceedings, be initiated against him.