Sonitpur (Assam), 25 March (HS): The Election Commission has accepted the nomination papers of BJP leader and minister Ashok Singhal and Congress candidate Batash Orang for the Dhekiajuli assembly constituency, bringing clarity after a day marked by objections and political uncertainty on Wednesday.

According to information available on the Election Commission’s official website, all four nomination papers submitted by Singhal have been declared valid. With this, he is now formally in the fray for the crucial electoral contest.

The decision assumes significance as it comes after formal objections were raised by Orang, who alleged discrepancies in Singhal’s nomination documents. The complaints included issues related to missing identification details, alleged tampering with certain pages, and incomplete information in the submitted forms. These allegations had briefly cast doubts over the BJP leader’s candidature.

Despite the objections, the Election Commission, after due deliberation and scrutiny, approved Singhal’s nomination, indicating satisfaction with the documents and compliance with election norms.

In the same process, the Commission also found Orang’s nomination valid, setting the stage for a direct electoral contest between the two main candidates in Dhekiajuli.

It may be noted that March 24 was the last day for scrutiny of nomination papers. While nominations in 124 out of 126 constituencies were declared valid by late evening, scrutiny in Dhekiajuli was deferred to March 25. Following the final review today, the Commission officially cleared the nominations of both BJP and Congress candidates.-----------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash