New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj met other party leaders in Delhi today to finalise new strategy after PA Sangma's demand for disqualification of Pranab Mukherjee from the presidential race was rejected yesterday.
And further upping the ante, Mr Sangma also wrote to the returning officer today seeking written order on rejection of objection to Mr Mukherjee's nomination.
Mr Sangma has said he will approach the Election Commission if order and relevant documents are not made available today.
Alleging that the UPA candidate's resignation letter was prepared at the last minute only to save his nomination, the party had asked both Mr Mukherjee and eminent scientist MGK Menon, who is the President of the Indian Statistical Institute, to come clean on the issue.
"BJP alleges that it is a 100 per cent fabricated document... it's very unfortunate that persons contesting such offices as President of India are indulging in illegal activities. We are demanding justice from the Election Commission," BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar said yesterday.
Mr Sangma's counsel Satya Pal Jain had said that Mr Mukherjee's signatures on the reply to the objections raised and that on his resignation letter do not tally.
"There are apprehensions on the genuineness of this document. This seems to have been manufactured after we raised objections to his nomination," he had said.
The BJP had demanded rejection of Mr Mukherjee's nomination, alleging he was holding an office of profit as chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).
The party had also said since that the institute comprised of a Council, hence its president cannot accept the resignation letter without circulating it to the Council members.