The nomination filed by BJP rebel candidate B.J. Puttaswamy for the Rajya Sabha elections has created a controversy, with former minister Aravind Limbavali filing an affidavit with the returning officer, Mr mprakash claiming his signature on the nomination papers was obtained fraudulently. Mr Limbavali was one of the MLAs who had proposed Puttaswamy’s name. Mr Puttaswamy, who was the political secretary to the CM and a known BSY loyalist, was suspended by the BJP Monday evening , hours after filing his papers. The BJP has nominated former state president Basavaraj Patil Sedam and former IAS officer Ramakrishna as its official candidates.
Mr Limbavali claimed that he signed Puttas-wamy’s papers after being told that he was the official BJP candidate. “I did not know he was a rebel, so my signature was wrongly obtained,’’ he added. To add to Puttaswamy’s troubles, Mr Poovaiah, the advocate for JD(S) backed candidate Rajiv Chandrashekhar, argued that his candidature should be rejected. He cited three reasons in support of his contention. For one, Limbavali’s signature was fraudulently obtained, which rendered the nomination papers invalid. Secondly, Mr Puttaswamy had assured that he would file the B-form of the BJP by Tuesday afternoon which he had not done. He now wanted to be considered an Independent candidate which could not be agreed to, the lawyer argued.
He also contended that Puttaswamy was holding the post of political advisor to the CM till Tuesday morning which was an office of profit. Though Mr Puttaswamy resigned as advisor, it was accepted only on Tuesday morning at 10 am. The scrutiny of nominations began at midnight of Monday. For 10 hours after the scrutiny process began, Mr Puttaswamy was holding an office of profit, Mr Poovaiah asserted. Sources said Mr Puttaswamy’s nomination is likely to be rejected on the office of profit issue.