A day after businessman and sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, Parimal Nathwani, filed his nomination as an NDA-backed Independent candidate for the June 18 Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand, objections raised by the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) led the Returning Officer to put scrutiny of his nomination papers on hold and seek his response.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was conducted on Tuesday for the three candidates in the fray, JMM’s Baidyanath Ram, Congress candidate Pranav Jha and Independent candidate Nathwani. While the nominations of Ram and Jha were found valid, the Returning Officer sought clarification from Nathwani over objections raised during the scrutiny process and directed him or his authorised representative to present their case by 11 am on Wednesday.

According to Congress leaders, their objections were related to alleged discrepancies and non-disclosure of personal information in Nathwani’s nomination papers.

Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha told The Indian Express that Nathwani had allegedly failed to disclose details of companies in which he serves as a director. “Our objection is that Parimal Nathwani has not shared certain personal details. He has not mentioned the company in which he is a director,” Sinha said.

He further alleged that there was an inconsistency in the manner in which Nathwani’s name had been mentioned in the nomination papers. “His name is Parimal Nathwani, but the nomination has been filed in the name of ‘Nathwani Parimal’,” Sinha said.

Sinha also claimed that certain personal information, including declarations related to pending cases, had not been adequately disclosed in the nomination documents.

Asked who had filed the objection, Sinha said it was raised by a Congress candidate.

The BJP, however, dismissed the objections as politically motivated and lacking merit. “The objections are baseless,” BJP general secretary Amar Kumar Bauri told The Indian Express.