A case of fake signatures has emerged in the Vice Presidential election nomination process after officials found that the papers of a Kerala candidate included the names and signatures of 22 MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha without their knowledge, resulting in the rejection of his nomination.
The candidate in question is Joemon Joseph from Kerala. His nomination papers carried the names and signatures of 22 proposers and 22 seconders, none of whom had authorised or signed the documents, India Today reported.
The nomination was rejected once it was confirmed that the MPs had no knowledge of being listed as endorsers, the report added.
The issue came to light during the scrutiny of nominations, which followed the filing deadline on August 21. Out of a total of 68 nomination papers submitted by 46 candidates, 28 papers from 19 candidates were rejected at the initial stage.
The remaining 40 nominations, belonging to 27 candidates, were examined on August 22, and only two candidates, CP Radhakrishnan and B Sudershan Reddy, were found to have valid nominations.
The matter has now been referred to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, which is expected to take further action regarding the alleged forgery in Joemon Joseph’s nomination papers, the report stated.
The upcoming Vice-Presidential election will be a straight fight between former Supreme Court judge Sudershan Reddy, supported by the INDIA bloc, and the NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan. Voting is scheduled for September 9, with results to be announced the same evening.
The post of Vice President became vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down on July 21, the opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, citing health concerns.