AAP overthrows Congress' allegations of ND Gupta holding NPS office, approves candidature for Rajya Sabha elections

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha candidate ND Gupta’s candidature has been approved, quashing Congress complaints, AAP said in New Delhi on Monday. On Saturday, the scrutiny of nomination was put on hold till Monday by the Returning Officer over Congress allegations of Gupta holding office of profit. [caption id=“attachment_4254781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] AAP leader Sanjay Singh termed the complaint as a “cheap publicity stunt”. The nomination of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) two other candidates  Sanjay Singh and Sushil Gupta  for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha were approved on Saturday. The scrutiny of nomination of ND Gupta was deferred following Congress complaint with the Returning Officer Nidhi Srivastava  its second complaint saying that Gupta had not resigned as chairman of the Audit Committee of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) Trust. In a letter to the Returning Officer, Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken had said that Narayan Dass Gupta was appointed as the chairman from 8 September, 2015 and “Gupta has not resigned from the post till date”. First, the Congress had alleged that Gupta had been appointed as trustee of the NPS on 30 March, 2015. Following the complaint, the Returning Officer had written a letter to Gupta. In his detailed reply, Gupta referred to various exemptions under the office of profit and also said that he had resigned from the Trust on 29 December, 2017. Three Rajya Sabha vacancies had come up in Delhi due to the end of tenure of Congress members later in January. AAP is set to win the three seats due to its majority in the Delhi assembly. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is Monday.