Record nominations at Bhokar trigger election reform debate

 

Nanded : In Nanded district, as many as 167 nomination forms were received for the Bhokar assembly constituency, where former CM Ashok Chavan's daughter Sreejaya Chavan is contesting on a BJP ticket. However, officials rejected ten of them in a scrutiny held on Wednesday, leaving as many as 110 candidates in the fray. The EC norms permit one candidate to file more than one nomination form.

They, however, feel that few of these will withdraw the nomination papers up to the last date - Nov 4. "Even if they do not withdraw, even then at maximum we shall have to set up nine ballot units in each booth in Bhokar constituency, and we are equipped for it, too".

Referring to an example of its neighbouring district Nizamabad (in Telangana), where 185 candidates had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Bhokal said, "Compared to them, ours is still a small number."

Next to Bhokar was Beed assembly seat where 139 nominations were filed of which 13 were rejected, shows data available on the EC website. At third spot was Aurangabad East with 110 nomination forms, of which 13 were rejected.

Many of the politicians term it as a pressure tactic, blackmailing, settling personal scores, or spoiling the chances of a particular candidate.

"It is high time we introduced electoral reforms so that there is no abuse of the electoral process. While serving as Aurangabad MP, I raised this issue in parliament. It is an open secret that certain elements file nomination papers with ulterior motives, and as soon as it is fulfilled, they withdraw," Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, who is contesting from Aurangabad East assembly constituency, told news agency.

It has become a common feature for some mischievous elements to file nomination papers in some high-profile seats, said Kishanchand Tanwani as he accepted the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidature from Aurangabad Central but later quits the race.

It is at times very evident why a particular candidate files his nomination and under what conditions he withdraws it, said a district collector who wished not to be named. But one cannot say this without any evidence.

The EC data shows Kankavali assembly seat holding the lowest rank at the end with just nine nomination forms. Malabar Hill and Ratnagiri constituencies registered the second and third lowest ranks with 11 and 12 papers, respectively.

7,995 applicants filed 10,900 nomination papers from the 288 electoral constituencies. On scrutiny, 9,209 were accepted and 1,640 were rejected for technical and legal reasons. Also, 56 applicants withdrew their candidature. More than 50 papers were received in 39 constituencies.