Direct fight in India's Prez poll

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Opposition nominee P A Sangma's attempts to trip UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee's Presidential bid failed today with the Returning Officer rejecting his objections, leaving both the candidates in the fray for a direct contest in the July 19 poll. "Only Pranab Mukherjee and Sangma are in the fray after their nomination papers were found valid in all respects. The final list of candidates will be made after the last day of withdrawal of nominations tomorrow," Rajya Sabha Secretary General V K Agnihotri, the Returning Officer, told reporters after completion of scrutiny of papers. He declined to divulge the details or the reasoning behind the rejection of Sangma's objection to Mukherjee's candidature that the UPA nominee stood disqualified as he still held an office of profit, saying he has to get the clearance of the Election Commission. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal, who appeared as Mukherjee's representative along with Home Minister P Chidambaram before the returning officer, told reporters that Agnihotri accepted the argument that he had resigned from the post of Chairman of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) on June 20, well before filing his nomination. He said the returning officer allowed their contention that the resignation was forwarded to the president of the ISI and also accepted his nomination papers. With this, Mukherjee and Sangma, whose nomination papers were found to be in order this morning, will fight it out in a direct contest in the poll. The counting of votes will be on July 22. Agnihotri said he also rejected objections agai nst the nomination papers of Sangma and Mukherjee filed by one Charanlal Sahu. PTI