The BJP has announced support to an Independent contesting from ward 46 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation as the nomination of the party’s candidate was rejected.

The BJP had fielded Malati Roy from the ward, but her candidature was cancelled as she had submitted a Scheduled Caste certificate issued in Assam, not in Bengal. Hence, the BJP has thrown its weight behind Independent candidate Ranjit Biswas.

After Roy’s nomination was rejected, the BJP was left with candidates in 46 of 47 SMC wards.

“We are not ready to give any space to the Trinamul Congress in the upcoming civic polls. Ranjit Biswas has followers in the ward and now, all our supporters will back him. The party has already started campaigning for him in ward 46,” said Anandamoy Barman, the president of the BJP’s Siliguri (organisational) district.

Ward 46 is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. In 2015, the BJP had won in two seats. The civic polls are scheduled for January 22.

Like Malati Roy, the nomination of Hishey Bhutia, the Trinamul candidate of ward 42, was also rejected as she had submitted the SC certificate issued in Sikkim.

But unlike the BJP, Trinamul is not without a candidate in the ward. Trinamul had fielded Shova Subba as a dummy in the ward. After the rejection of Bhutia’s nomination, Subba became Trinamul’s official candidate in the seat.

The Congress that fielded candidates in 34 seats also faced a setback in ward 31 where its nominee Nabina Sarkar’s papers were rejected during scrutiny. “The ward is reserved for SC candidates but it was found that the Congress candidate had submitted a Scheduled Tribe certificate,” said a source.