Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Presidential candidature was on Monday hit by allegations of conflict of interest.
PA Sangma, who has the support of the BJP and several other opposition parties, today raised objection to UPA nominee Mukherjee's candidature allegedly for holding an office of profit.
Sangma alleged that Mukherjee holds the post of chairman at Indian Statistical Institute, saying he should be barred from contesting Presidential polls under office of profit.
The development came as the scrutiny of Mukherjee’s nomination papers, which was to happen today, has been postponed till tomorrow.
The Returning Officer at the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has asked Mukherjee to respond to allegations by tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Indian Statistical Institute today clarified that Pranab had resigned from his post on June 20 so there is no basis to claim that he is holding an office of profit.
Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal also confirmed that Pranab Mukherjee had earlier resigned as Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute well before he filed nomination as Presidential candidate.
Interestingly, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy speculated whether Mukherjee’s nomination will be rejected in light of new developments.
He tweeted: “Will Pranab's nomination be rejected? Scrutiny suddenly postponed to tomorrow (sic)”
“Pranab has various offices of profit secretly? That is the buzz in Hong Kong,” he added.
First Published: Monday, July 02, 2012, 13:59