All India Congress Committee observer and returning officer for the Congress Primary, to elect the Lok Sabha candidate for Dakshina Kannada seat, Preniel Nair has said that there is no appeal pending before him from Harsha Moily, son of Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily, whose nomination was rejected on Sunday.
Had his nomination been accepted, Mr. Moily would have contested against former Union Minister B. Janardhana Poojary who is a strong contender for the seat. With the elimination of Mr. Moily, the contest is now between Mr. Poojary and U. Kanachur Monu, vice-president of Minorities Cell of Pradesh Congress.
Mr. Moily had told The Hindu via text message on Sunday that he had appealed to the All India Congress Committee against rejection of his nomination for the primary for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha seat and hoped the issue would be resolved soon.
Mr. Nair said that the decision to reject the nomination was taken jointly by the AICC general secretary-in-charge of Karnataka, Digvijay Singh, and chief election authority for primaries Prakash Joshi. Mr. Nair said he was not aware whether the AICC had any appeal from Mr. Moily regarding the rejection of his nomination.
RuleThe ‘Candidate Handbook’ states that “the decision of the AICC general secretary or secretary in-charge of this pilot programme (primary) shall be final on the claim made by a candidate to be a person of standing in public service and social cause”.
