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Ticket-seekers rush to lawyers, CAs

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI OCT. 25. The Election Commission's new directive to seek an affidavit from the contesting candidates at the time of filing their nomination papers with regard to past and present police or criminal cases and details about the properties, assets and cash of not only the candidates but also their dependents has political leaders running for cover. Suddenly the lawyers and chartered accounts are in great demand by individuals and parties for consultations on the issue.

In fact, the parties are also deliberating on putting up strong shadow candidates to ensure that in case the nomination papers are not accepted for some reason or the other, the covering candidate could step in for the official candidate. The task of the political parties in selecting candidates is likely to become all the more tough as they would have to keep in mind all these factors while finalising the candidature of a particular individual.

Interestingly, even the sitting MLAs, who are seeking re-election, would have to submit the required information this time round. It is learnt that the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has already written to those who matter in the party to keep the new guidelines in mind and apprise the block and districts about its provisions. "The DPCC is also planning to set up a legal cell for all those interested in getting help on the issue. The new requirements are certainly going to affect a lot of people and bring out the truth about the candidate and his credentials in the media,'' remarked the DPCC chief spokesman, Jagdish Tytler.

In fact, various leaders have been visiting the Election Commission officials to seek information about the new guidelines. In addition to this, the new nomination form and its annexures are in great demand among the political heads as they want to be apprised about the new stringent norms that could create problems for many of them.

The political leaders, those expecting a party nomination and those who are already in the Vidhan Sabha, are rushing to lawyers and chartered accounts to finalise the details that need to be submitted to the Returning Officer at the time of filing nomination. The Election Commission officials said they would insist on those filling their nominations also file an affidavit about these details.

No nomination form would be accepted without an affidavit but if despite filling an affidavit the candidate concerned does not file the correct information, the Returning Officer will not have the power to reject the nomination form. The candidate or the contestant would leave the matter to the courts to decide if the rival candidate comes up with some other information which was kept hidden.

On the other hand, the Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana, said that the party had directed all those filling their claims for the party ticket to give all the details regarding the past and present cases if pending or decided against or in favour of them.

In addition to this, all the property details have also been sought to make the job easier in the last stage. The Delhi BJP Election Campaign Committee chairman, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said the new norms are certainly going to affect the decision making process of the parties. Now the parties would have to rush early with the list of candidates as any last minute hitch could lead to rejection of nomination forms.

In fact, it is understood that all those hopefuls who have applied for the party ticket are already on the job of getting these details prepared and if granted party nomination would rush to fill them in. The party or the individual cannot afford to take the risk of doing it at the eleventh hour.

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