When Abu Azmi ran into a Panther

The SP candidate was shaken when a candidate from J&K National Panthers Party, which has the same symbol, was pitted against him

When Abu Azmi ran into a Panther

The SP candidate was shaken when a candidate from J&K National Panthers Party, which has the same symbol, was pitted against him

Elections are a season of skullduggery and intrigue and this election is no different.

On April 9, a candidate of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party mysteriously surfaced in the Mumbai North West constituency and filed his nomination.
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Just as mysteriously, he withdrew his nomination on April 13, the last date for withdrawal of nomination, and disappeared from the scene.
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But in those five days, he served his purpose shaking up Samajwadi Party candidate Abu Azmi.

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It was this similarity that made Azmi suspect that Malhotra had been put up by his rivals to create hurdles for him (see box).

On further investigation, the party discovered that all the persons who had proposed Malhotra's name lived in a slum.
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"When we approached the slum dwellers, they said they were unaware of such a candidate and the nomination papers were filed without their knowledge.

Thereafter, they approached the returning officer and filed an affidavit to that affect," said Azmi.
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Meanwhile, after the SP raised objections to Malhotra's candidature, judgement on his nomination papers were reserved. Finally, on April 13, Malhotra approached the returning officer and withdrew his papers.
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"After withdrawing his nomination, Malhotra vanished from the scene. He was brought in to create confusion, as the Panthers Party shared a similar symbol," added Azmi.

Symbol of confusion

The J&K Panthers Party is a registered state party in Jammu and Kashmir with the cycle as its symbol. The Samajwadi Party is a registered state party in Uttar Pradesh and Madya Pradesh and also has the cycle as its symbol.
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According to the rules, no state registered parties, which share the same symbol, can contest in another state with the same symbol. In this case, both candidates would not have got their party symbols and may have had to contest on different symbols.

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