New Delhi: In a new twist to the high drama over his candidature for Rajya Sabha elections, arms dealer Suresh Nanda, sponsored by Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebel members of legislative assembly (MLAs) on November 10 alleged that he was made to withdraw from the fray "under duress" and asked the Election Commission not to act upon it.

In a petition to the Commission in which he has named UP Chief Minister Mayawati and others as respondents, Nanda demanded that the whole election to the Rajya Sabha from UP be countermanded and an inquiry ordered into how his original affidavit was removed from the records.

He also wanted registration of first information report (FIR) against the Returning Officer on charges of forgery as also against state BJP leaders Lalji Tandon, Pramod Tiwari, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajendra Prasad Pandey and others for ''assault and kidnapping'' him.

Nanda said he had also sent communication to President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Justice and the Chief Election Commissioner seeking their intervention saying his life was under threat.

"I was initially telephonically threatened with life not to file nomination paper from UP and later on was told that if I file it I would be arrested," Nanda said in his communication.

"Since I have filed my nomination papers, state machinery was used by the Chief Minister to force District Magistrate, Ghaziabad to cancel my voter registration and false FIR for alleged forgery in the electoral roll was registered against me," he said.

PTI