The TMC has urged the Election Commission to cancel BJP leader Rahul Sinha’s candidature in the Rajya Sabha elections for allegedly “concealing information” in his nomination paper affidavit.
In a letter to the Election Commission (EC), TMC MLA Aroop Biswas wrote that he had raised the alleged discrepancies with the Returning Officer during the scrutiny of the nomination process on Friday, but they were ignored.
“…the conduct of the scrutiny proceedings and the acceptance of the nomination of Biswajit Sinha despite the glaring deficiencies and inconsistencies in the affidavit have seriously prejudiced the transparency of the electoral process and have adversely affected the rights of the electorate,” Biswas wrote.
It is to be noted that in official documents, BJP leader Rahul Sinha’s name is Biswajit Sinha.
“The scrutiny of the nomination of Biswajit Sinha conducted on March 6, 2026, stands vitiated by procedural irregularities and is liable to be treated as null and void. It is therefore respectfully requested that the Election Commission and the competent authorities take immediate cognizance of the aforesaid irregularities and take appropriate steps in accordance with law, including reconsideration of the validity of the nomination of Biswajit Sinha and the scrutiny proceedings,” the TMC leader added.
Sinha has, however, rejected the allegations and said that all the papers and documents submitted while filing nomination were “in order”.
“The TMC wanted to cancel my candidature on false and flimsy pretexts, which were overruled by the returning officer,” said the former state BJP president.
Detailing the objections in his letter to the EC, the TMC MLA wrote, “In the column in Form 26 relating to disclosure of PAN and Income Tax Returns, the table merely mentions “Self” and “Spouse” without clearly specifying the names of the candidate and the spouse in the respective column. The disclosure, therefore, does not properly identify the persons to whom the financial particulars relate and remains incomplete.”
According to the MLA, disclosure of bank deposits, including the name of the bank or institution, branch and other details were missing in Sinha’s affidavit. “The candidate (Sinha) has merely disclosed consolidated figures without furnishing the necessary particulars of the deposits,” he wrote.
“The prescribed form requires the candidate to… tick mark whether criminal cases are pending or not. In the affidavit, although details of several criminal cases have been mentioned, the required indication by way of a tick mark has not been clearly made, rendering the declaration incomplete,” the MLA added.
“The right of the voter to know the full particulars of a candidate, including his financial and other disclosures, has been recognized by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India as an integral facet of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Any process which circumvents or dilutes this requirement strikes at the very foundation of a free and fair electoral process,” Biswas contended.
The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha are scheduled on March 16, when five seats from West Bengal will go to polls.
The ruling TMC, which is set to win four seats based on its strength in the Assembly, has fielded state minister Babul Supriyo, former DGP Rajeev Kumar, lawyer-activist Menaka Guruswamy, and actor Koel Mallick. The BJP, on the other hand, has nominated Sinha for the fifth seat, which the party is poised to win.
Sinha and others had filed the nomination on March 5, the last date for filing the nomination.