Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s nomination papers were temporarily put on hold on Thursday after Congress candidate, and his bete noire from the New Delhi Assembly constituency, Kiran Walia, accused him of sitting on information about his criminal history in addition to two other ‘irregularities’ while filing his nominations .
However, in what turned out to be relief for Mr. Kejriwal just hours later, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate refused to entertain the complaint prompting Ms. Walia to declare that she would take the matter to court. Ms. Walia on Wednesday reached the Jamnagar House to urge the cancellation of Mr. Kejriwal’s nominations on three grounds.
These included alleged deliberate withholding of information about a criminal case registered against him under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code , over his voter card which is issued from south Delhi’s BK Dutt Colony instead of his residence in adjacent Ghaziabad, and having organised and participated in a rally prior to the official notification of the Assembly elections.
“We approached the officer concerned for action against Mr. Kejriwal through the cancellation of his candidature for the polls, but were told that the matter was beyond his jurisdiction,” a Congess leader told The Hindu . “So, we will approach the Delhi High Court against this and ensure that justice is delivered,” the leader added.
Ms. Walia, a trusted aide of former three-time Chief Minster Sheila Dikshit, has been fielded from the New Delhi constituency in a head-on contest with Mr. Kejriwal.
The party’s performance in New Delhi, which was more or less a direct contest between Ms. Dikshit and Mr. Kejriwal among an electorate composed predominantly of government officials and bureaucrats last year, had been the worst with the 18,000-odd votes polled in favour of the former proving no match from the latter’s 44,269.
