EC rejects 134 nominations in Gujarat LS poll fray

The Election Commission has found papers of BJP stalwarts L K Advani, Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry to be in order after scrutiny, even as it rejected the nomination papers of 134 candidates in fray for April 30 Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat.
While Modi and Mistry are contesting from Vadodara seat, Advani is seeking a fresh term from Gandhinagar. They are among the prominent candidates in the State, which will have single-phase polling for the 26 Lok Sabha seats.
A total of 547 people had filed nominations and after scrutiny, papers of 134 of them were rejected due to various reasons, according to a statement from the office of Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal.

With this, 413 candidates are in the fray. However, a clear picture will emerge tomorrow, the last date of withdrawal of nominations.
The paper of AAP candidate from Patan Atul Patel was rejected on the ground that name of one of his ten supporters, who had backed his nomination, was missing from voter list and the aspirant failed to appear before the Returning Officer to explain the discrepancy, EC sources said.
Other rejected papers were of Independents and aspirants from smaller parties, they said, adding nominations of all BJP and Congress aspirants were found to be in order.