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EC expects great rush for nominations

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI NOV. 2. Anticipating a rush of nomination papers for the Delhi Assembly elections on December 1, the Election Commission has printed 10,000 application forms, which have been sent to the Returning Officers of all the 70 constituencies for distribution to aspiring candidates. This works out to be more than 140 applications per seat.

The process for accepting nomination papers would begin on Friday with the issue of notification in this regard on November 7. The last day for filing of nomination papers is November 14, Commission officials said.

"The print order of application forms is based on our past experiences. We do not want any shortage of application forms at the last minute. Moreover there has been tendency on the part of the candidates to take several forms. Also multiple nomination forms are filled by candidates,'' officials said. More than 2,700 people have applied to the BJP and Congress - the two major political parties in the Capital - seeking an Assembly ticket. "This is an indication of the number of aspirants,'' they added.

One of the major reasons for printing so many nomination papers, Election Commission officials said, was the format of an affidavit -- giving details of criminal background and court cases if any, movable and immovable properties and their educational background -- attached with the application forms.

"There is curiosity among ticket aspirants and political parties about the affidavit, which every one to submit along with the nomination papers. As a result, a substantial number of forms have already been distributed,'' officials said. Preliminary reports have shown that a large number of forms were being distributed by the Returning Officers in Outer and East Delhi, they said, adding, "even in the past, constituencies in these areas have witnessed maximum number of candidates.''

Also with the security deposit being just Rs. 5,000, officials said they hoped a substantial increase in the application forms. "We had proposed an increase in the deposit to Rs. 10,000 so as to prevent more candidates from contesting elections. But this could not materialise,'' officials said.

Though in 1998, the number of nominations dropped significantly to 1,052 from 2,176 in 1993, officials said they were expecting an increase now. "This is because of two reasons. One the fear among the candidates that any wrong information in the application forms along with their affidavits would result in cancellation. Second is the declining value of rupee in the last one decade due to inflation. Now many people can afford to spend that much of money," officials said.

Referring to the record books, officials said in the first Assembly Elections in 1952, just 406 application forms were submitted. "This increased to 417 in 1972, 461 in 1977, 750 in 1983 and 2,176 in 1993 when it reached its peak,'' they said.

However, the actual number of candidates in fray is less than the number of nomination papers received, because of rejections and withdrawals. As against 1,052 applications in 1998, 815 were left in the fray after 134 rejections and withdrawal by 103 candidates. Similarly in 1993, 1,316 candidates were left in the fray following 104 rejections and 756 withdrawals.

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