Four persons, unknown in public life, have become the first ones to bid for the post of President even though their eligibility criteria is in question.
Anand Singh Kushwaha from Gwalior, Om Prakash Agarwal from Delhi, Narendra Nath Dubay 'Adig' from Varanasi, who claims to be a lawyer, and M Iliyas from Tamil Nadu have filed their applications for the July 19 elections.
"The nomination papers of Iliyas have been rejected as they did not fulfill the criteria," V K Agnihotri, Rajya Sabha secretary general and returning officer for the Presidential Election 2012, told reporters.
Except for Dubay, none of the other three have given any personal details.
An application form of a candidate is accepted by the returning officer if he submits a certified copy relating to the entry of his name in the electoral roll of a Parliamentary constituency and makes a deposit of Rs 15,000.
Dubay, who also claims to be the president of the 'Rashtriya Manavadhikar Raksha Samiti, appears to have made a serious attempt by gathering 50 proposers and an equal number of seconders for his nominations.
Iliyas' papers were rejected as he had submitted only the application form without a certified copy of the electoral roll or the required deposit.
The papers of Kushwaha and Agarwal are also likely to be rejected as they have not submitted a list of proposers and seconders. However, a decision on this is expected to be taken by the returning officer on July 2, when the nominations will be scrutinised.
