Policemen posted outside Subash Ghisingh’s house in Darjeeling on Friday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Siliguri, April 8: The CPM today alleged that Shankar Malakar did not belong to the Scheduled Caste and asked the Election Commission to annul his candidature in the reserved Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly constituency.

In a letter sent to the chief electoral officer of the state, the CPM said Malakar had furnished an invalid SC certificate to contest from Matigara-Naxalbari.

“I am to place to record (sic) that in the Assembly election held in the year 1996, he (Malakar) had contested as a general candidate at Siliguri Assembly constituency and did not mention that he belongs to SC category,” reads the letter by Gautam Ghosh, the election agent for the CPM candidate in Matigara-Naxalbari.

The CPM has fielded Jharen Roy in the constituency.

The copies of the letter were sent to the returning officer of the constituency and the district magistrate of Darjeeling as well.

“We have also learnt from Malakar’s close relatives that he does not belong to the SC community and so, want the Election Commission to cancel his nomination because the Matigara-Naxalbari seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste,” said Ghosh, who is also the Naxalbari zonal secretary of the CPM.

Malakar dubbed the allegation a publicity stunt by the CPM. “The Left leaders are levelling baseless allegations against me as they have realised that they will miserably lose the elections in Matigara-Naxalbari. For generations, we belong to the SC community and there should be no confusion over it,” said Malakar, who is also the Darjeeling district Congress president.

The Congress candidate said he had declared himself as an OBC member in 1996 as he did not have an SC certificate at that time.

“I got the SC certificate issued by the state government in 2008. This makes me eligible to contest from Matigara-Naxalbari. Furthermore, I would like to suggest that the CPM, which is concerned over its electoral prospects in the seat now, collect the information about my certificate from the SDO office before levelling allegations against me to gain some narrow mileage,” said Malakar.

The SC certificate is issued by the subdivisional officer.

M.K. Gandhi, the Darjeeling district magistrate and the district election officer, said he was aware of the complaint. “A number of issues need to be verified before we pass any comment on it,” said Gandhi.