Ranchi: Ending a day of suspense, returning officer (RO) Ranjit Kumar on Wednesday declared the nomination of NDA-backed Independent candidate and outgoing Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, Parimal Nathwani, as “valid”, rejecting a series of objections raised by the Congress that had led the process to be briefly put on hold.“The nomination is found to be valid and hereby accepted under Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” the RO’s order stated. It further clarified that objections raised during scrutiny were examined under “para-6, para-10 (XII) (XIII) and para 9.1 of Chapter VI and other provisions of the Handbook for Returning Officers” and “none of the objections raised disclose a ground for rejection under Section 36 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The objections are accordingly rejected.”The ruling sparked immediate protest from the Congress, which is part of the INDIA bloc and has grown increasingly wary since Nathwani’s entry turned the contest triangular. Party leaders alleged that the process lacked fairness and accused the RO of acting in favour of the BJP.Stepping up the attack, the Congress also accused the Election Commission of “double standards”, citing the prompt rejection of its Rajya Sabha candidate in Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natrajan, over alleged improper disclosures just a day earlier.All Congress MLAs from Jharkhand are now likely to leave for Delhi on Thursday to meet the central leadership and submit a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking intervention and demanding cancellation of Nathwani’s nomination.In the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, the INDIA bloc has 56 MLAs — 34 from JMM, 16 from Congress, four from RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation — while the NDA has 24 MLAs. With 28 first-preference votes needed to win, the INDIA bloc is set to secure one seat comfortably. However, the contest for the second seat remains open, likely hinging on cross-voting and the ability of both camps to keep their ranks intact.Congress’s advocate Surender Singh Chauhan, talking to reporters outside the assembly, said, “In his (Nathwani’s) nomination papers, certain objections were raised. Some discrepancies were found without proper disclosures of assets, family… even the name was inconsistent. Under Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, every candidate must file Form 26 with full details of assets, spouse, family and dependents. Nathwani’s affidavit left most columns blank, giving information only about himself and his wife. This made the affidavit legally invalid.”Senior Congress functionary and Supreme Court advocate Salman Khurshid, who rushed from Delhi to argue in the matter, alleged procedural bias. “Our party had notified the RO that I will appear to argue. But everything here was pre-decided. The matter was closed before I could even arrive,” he told reporters outside the assembly.Tempers ran high throughout the day, with both treasury and opposition benches holding protests inside and outside the assembly, trading charges of constitutional impropriety and political interference.At a joint media briefing later in the evening, Congress state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, along with a JMM delegation, alleged that Nathwani was allowed to submit supplementary documents, calling the move “against norms”. The BJP countered by accusing the Congress and INDIA bloc of attempting to interfere in a constitutional process.Sources indicated that the RO’s decision may have been influenced by a 2003 Supreme Court ruling in Harikrishna Lal vs Babulal Marandi, which held that minor clerical or technical errors cannot be treated as substantial defects affecting a candidate’s identity. Nathwani’s counsel, Prashant Pallav and Kumar Harsh, relied on this precedent during arguments.