The Election Commission of India has referred a complaint about a mismatch in the affidavit submitted by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union minister and BJP candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Avani Bansal, a Supreme Court lawyer and president of the Congress’s Madhya Pradesh Mahila Seva Dal, had in her complaint to the district election officer of Thiruvananthapuram on April 5 pointed out that Chandrasekhar had filed income tax returns of only Rs 680 in 2021-22.
Bansal alleged that Chandrasekhar had grossly underreported his wealth and the affidavit was “factually incorrect but clear attempt to mislead the voters and thereby a corrupt practice…. Rajeev Chandrasekhar has not disclosed the major holding company Jupiter Company, while only disclosing shareholdings in subsidiary companies, which does not reveal the complete truth of the multi-layered company structure he has to hide his true assets”.
The Congress raised the issue with the EC on April 6.
Bansal had pointed out that the EC had referred a similar complaint from her in 2019 to the CBDT but the fate of the complaint was still unknown.
A senior EC source told The Telegraph: “A returning officer is merely duty-bound to check if all the columns of an affidavit are filled up. If not, the candidate is asked to do so during the filing of the nomination. Once submitted, the affidavit is uploaded and anyone can move an election petition in a high court challenging the affidavit if they wish. The EC has gone a step further and referred the complaint to the CBDT so they may check their own records with regard to his income.”
On Tuesday, the EC issued a showcause notice to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala for his alleged “undignified, uncivilised and vulgar” remarks against BJP MP Hema Malini.
The poll body also sought a response from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the steps taken to ensure strict compliance with its advisories on upholding the honour and dignity of women during public speeches by its leaders.
Both have to respond to the notices by April 11.
More forces
The EC has asked the Union home ministry to deploy 100 more companies of central forces to Bengal. The state will now have more than 1,000 companies of central armed police in addition to the state police.
A senior EC source clarified: “This is not related to any ongoing investigation. These forces are only to be deployed in polling booths.”
The Centre has also increased the security cover of chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar from Z to Z+. This will include 55 personnel, including at least 10 National Security Guard commandos.
Confirming the development, a senior EC source said: “There were threats from abroad detected by the government. Some officials received phone calls from British phone numbers giving these threats. These are believed to be from undemocratic forces.”