By IANS,
Patna : A day after he said he was fit to contest the polls, veteran socialist leader George Fernandes Wednesday fell ill just hours before he was to file his nomination papers from a Bihar constituency.
Fernandes, whose Janata Dal-United (JD-U) denied him a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls, Tuesday termed as “lies” the rumours that he was unwell.
“He fell ill suddenly Wednesday morning. There is an uncertainty whether he will be able to file nomination papers or not,” said Pravin Singh Jadeja, Fernandes’ close associate.
Fernandes arrived in Patna Tuesday from New Delhi and left soon to file nomination papers from Muzaffarpur constituency, 70 km from here.
He surprised everyone when he said he would contest the elections on the nomination of a party and not as an independent candidate, as declared last week.
He, however, refused to name the party that would give him the ticket for contesting from Muzaffarpur constituency.
“I will not contest as an independent. I will contest as a party candidate. I will fight. I will reveal the party name at the right moment,” Fernandes said.
The JD-U denied him a ticket on grounds of his “advancing years and failing health”. Without naming anybody in the JD-U, he said some people were behind spreading rumours that Fernandes was not well and cannot contest elections. “It is a big lie, I am healthy.”