Chennai : The BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit is furious over the manner its candidate in Nilgiris failed to file his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election on time.
Angry party leaders and supporters who smell foul play want the party to get to the bottom of the issue and fix responsibility, particularly since Nilgiris was considered a “winnable seat”.
The candidate, S. Gurumurthy, has stated that he did not reach the returning officer on time because his car broke down on the way. No one in the party is ready to accept this version.
Worse, the papers of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s standby candidate, D. Anbarasan, also met the same fate.
“There seems to be a pattern. In the mayoral elections held here two years ago, our party candidate’s nomination paper was rejected for some infirmities,” a BJP member told IANS.
“Party leaders at the centre should fix responsibility for the debacle. When we cadres are slogging it out, the chosen candidate has not filed his nomination properly,” the source added.
The seat is currently held by DMK’s A. Raja, who will now face only the AIADMK in the electoral contest April 24.
The BJP has sewed up a six-party alliance in Tamil Nadu and secured eight constituencies to contest the elections from.
After the Nilgiris fiasco, it will contest only in seven places. The BJP has set up a committee to probe what happened in Nilgiris.