Busy Monday in store as Delhi poll body expects 2k nominations

The nomination process was initiated on November 7 and November 14 is the last day for filing. Over the past week, the commission received 35 nominations, mostly from independent candidates and smaller political parties

After a nearly dry nomination period over the past week, the State Election Commission is expecting many more candidates to file their nomination papers on Monday for the MCD polls, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Officials at a nomination centre for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. (PTI)

The nomination process was initiated on November 7 and November 14 is the last day for filing. Over the past week, the commission received 35 nominations, mostly from independent candidates and smaller political parties. A senior SEC (State Election Commission) official said the commission is expecting at least 2,000 nominations to be filed on deadline day.

“During the last MCD elections, more than 2,800 nominations were received. Since very few nominations have been received during the last seven days, we are expecting a very large volume of candidates to be rushing towards returning officers for filing papers on Monday and adequate arrangements have been made for such a situation,” a senior SEC official said.

According to the regulations fixed by the SEC, the timing of submission of nominations will be between 11am and 3pm at the office of the returning officer concerned. There are 68 returning officers, each covering 3-6 municipal wards.

On November 11, the deputy secretary office of the election commission wrote to all district election officers, deputy commissioners of police and returning officers to brace for “last hour rush”.

“As you are aware... no nomination papers will be received by returning officers on Saturday and Sunday. Now only Monday is left for receiving nominations. There is every possibility that a large number of persons may approach the respective returning officers. Therefore, adequate arrangements be made and all machineries to work in tandem to manage the last hour rush on the day and to ensure that the nomination process is not hampered in any way,” the communication said.

The SEC has also issued eight-point guidelines to the returning officers to manage the rush by deploying additional manpower and equipment for handling nominations, earmarking parking facilities, ensuring sitting area/tentage and making arrangements for drinking water and toilets for the crowd.

The SEC has asked for coordination with Delhi Police and traffic police for crowd management, handing law and order and ensuring smooth traffic flow around the premises. “We will keep additional manpower to ensure no inconvenience is caused to the candidates and the general public to complete the nomination process,” a senior SEC official said.

The list of RO offices has been made available on the SEC website sec.delhi.gov.in and the Nigam Chunav Delhi mobile application. “All candidates are expected to file nomination papers with two affidavits on form 21 and form 22 regarding criminal background, assets, liabilities and educational qualifications,” a second official said.

During November 7-13, the SEC received 35 nomination papers -- all of which were accepted -- from independents as well as candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, the CPI(M), the All India Forward Block with almost 2/3rds of the nominations filed by men. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) released the list of its candidates in two phases. On Friday night, the AAP released its first list of 134 candidates while a second list was issued on Saturday night with 117 names. The AAP replaced one of its candidates within 24 hours, from the Badarpur ward.

The BJP came up with its list of 232 candidates on Saturday, including nine former mayors and 52 former councillors and 126 seats being provided to female candidates. The BJP has replaced over 2/3rds of its sitting councillors.

Voting for the elections will be held on December 4.