[1]The July 19 presidential poll is all set to witness a straight fight between Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Mr P.A. Sangma after the nomination papers of other candidates got rejected during the scrutiny on Tuesday.
Rajya Sabha secretary-general V.K. Agnihotri, who is the returning officer in this election, overruled Mr Sangma’s objection regarding Mr Mukherjee’s eligibility to contest alleging he held an 'office of profit'.
Mr Agnihotri said the objections were “untenable and lacked merit” under the provisions of the Presi-dential and Vice-Presid-ential Act, 1952 and in the light of various judgments of the Supreme Court.
While Mr Mukherjee is supported by over 20 political parties in the UPA and outside, Mr Sangma is bac-ked by the BJP-BJD-AIADMK.
“The final list of candidates will be made on Wednesday,” the returning officer said.
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