11 out of 39 nomination forms for upcoming Kasba Peth Assembly byelection contest invalid

A total of 11 nomination forms out of 39 received for the upcoming Kasba Peth Assembly byelection in Pune city of Maharashtra were found invalid after scrutiny, the district administration said.

A total of 29 candidates had filed 39 nomination forms for the bypoll scheduled for February 26, as per the official statement.

The nomination forms of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Hemant Rasane and Maha Vikas Aghadi nominee Ravindra Dhangekar, who belongs to Congress, are declared valid.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting MLA Mukta Tilak of BJP in December 2022. Ganesh Bidkar, who too had filed a nomination as a BJP candidate, was termed invalid after Rasane’s nomination form was approved.

Most rejections were due to candidates not signing the nomination papers, not providing affidavits in the stipulated time, not furnishing the party’s AB form and the absence of proposers’ signatures, the statement said.

The last date for withdrawal of the forms is February 10. Apart from Kasba Peth, a byelection will be held for the Chinchwad Assembly seat which fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap. The BJP has fielded Ashwini Jagtap from the Chindwad seat.