By IANS,
Ghaziabad : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh Friday filed his nomination papers for the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat.
BJP chief ministers Raman Singh and B.C. Khanduri of Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, respectively, as well as Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal of the Akali Dal arrived with him to support his nomination. BJP general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present.
Singh entered the district collectorate compound at 11.50 a.m. after conducting a hawan (fire ceremony) at the Hans Plaza building in Ambedkar Nagar here. He was cheered by a large crowd of supporters, who did not enter the collectorate compound in keeping with the Election Commission’s directive.
The BJP chief appeared before the Returning Officer – District Magistrate Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan – with four local proposers of his party.
Singh waited for the ‘right time’ to file his poll papers. At 12.05 p.m., Singh rose to present his papers before the Returning Officer. He was inside the office for about 15 minutes.
Addressing a public meeting later, Singh said: “I will accept the verdict of the people whatever it may be. My job is to work hard and let people judge.” His supporters flashed the victory sign and a huge swarm of media persons surrounded his Ambassador car and asked him for news bytes.
The area in and around the district headquarters was turned into a fortress with heavy deployment of security forces for the occasion.