The Congress on Friday demanded that the Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha nominee Narayan Dass Gupta’s candidature be rejected as he holds an office of profit. The AAP denied the claim and called the Congress’ charge against its candidate “frivolous”.

The row between the two parties played out on social media site Twitter.

Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi will be held on January 16, and the AAP named its nominees – Sanjay Singh, Sushil Gupta and Narayan Dass Gupta – on Wednesday.

The Congress’ charge is that Narayan Dass Gupta is not eligible to contest for the seat as he is currently a trustee of the government-owned National Pension System Trust.

Calling Gupta a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Goods and Services Tax, Congress leader and Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken said on Twitter, “He still holds this office of profit as on date - Inelligible (sic) to contest!”

MPs and state legislators are not allowed to accept government positions that offer money or other benefits. AAP’s National Spokesperson Raghav Chadha responded to Maken’s claim, saying the rule did not apply to trustees. “Frivolous objections to gain cheap publicity by Congress,” Chadha said.

Maken also accused the AAP of being the ruling BJP’s “B-team”. He claimed ND Gupta was nominated because he is a “close friend of a senior BJP leader”, The Indian Express reported.

“AAP has named chartered accountant and GST supporter ND Gupta, who is a close friend” of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Maken claimed.