New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday asked BJP not to undermine the dignity of the Presidential poll by indulging in "tricks" and dismissed the charge that Pranab Mukherjee`s resignation letter to Indian Statistical Institute was fabricated as frivolous.
"When you realise that winning the election is absolutely impossible, then you deploy such tricks. The Opposition nominee (PA Sangma) and the parties supporting his candidature should seriously ponder.
"This is not an election for student bodies in schools and colleges but Presidential poll and should be fought with the dignity attached with it," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters in New Delhi.
He also dismissed BJP`s threat to file an election petition against Mukherjee`s nomination saying that the "issue stands settled" as the returning officer (Rajya Sabha secretary general) has already dealt with it.
"The RO found the nomination (of Mukherjee) totally valid and that ends the matter," Tewari said.
In Thiruvanthapuram, Mukherjee himself made light of the claim of Sangma that his signatures were forged in the resignation letter sent to the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
"How can somebody lodge a complaint that you forged your own signature?," he said countering the fresh offensive of the BJP on the issue and its threat that it was considering legal options.
Election managers of Mukherjee claimed that they have drawn up a strategy to counter the supporters of Sangma in the Presidential poll if they continue to raise "frivolous objections" to the UPA nominee.
"I have something else with me which we will come out at the right time. It depends on how foolish or malicious they are," a senior Congress leader who declined to be identified, said. He, however, refused to elaborate.
Meanwhile, Bansal said Mukherjee will be campaigning in Rajasthan and Gujarat on Thursday by visiting Jaipur and Ahmedabad while he will be in Guwahati on July 6 and will cover as many as five northeastern states, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram.
The UPA candidate will be in Kolkata on July 9 and in Dehra Dun on July 10. He is expected to be in Madhya Pradesh on July 11, a day on which he will also cover Chhattisgarh.
Madhya Pradesh Leader of the Opposition Ajai Singh had a meeting with party chief Sonia Gandhi today in connection with Mukherjee`s visit.
Bansal said Mukherjee will visit Mumbai on July 13, while on 14th he will cover Delhi and on July 15, he is visiting Srinagar and Chandigarh to cover the Union Territory and states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Upping the ante over Mukherjee`s nomination, Sangma today demanded a copy of the Returning Officer`s detailed order rejecting his objection to the Congress leader`s candidature.
PTI
