Timely alert by election officer saves party candidate from disqualification

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

An unusual incident was reported at the office of election officer no. 1 on Friday afternoon at 12.45 pm, when a BJP official candidate arrived to withdraw his nomination. The candidate submitted an application before the election officer seeking withdrawal. As the officer began asking routine questions, the candidate mentioned that he wanted to withdraw two additional independent nomination forms he had filed. Hearing this, the election officer was taken aback.

Under zone no. 1, three Prabhags 3, 4 and 5 are included. In one of these prabhag, the BJP had fielded a first-time candidate. The candidate had submitted a total of three nomination forms one as the party’s official candidate and two as an independent. On Thursday, his party nomination was declared valid. As per election rules, once a party nomination is accepted, any additional independent nominations filed by the same candidate automatically stand rejected. However, the candidate was unaware of this rule.

He had come on Friday to withdraw the independent nomination forms. Had the election officer accepted the withdrawal application without scrutiny, the party’s official candidate could have been disqualified from the electoral contest, leading to major confusion. The election officer promptly pointed out the mistake to the candidate, thereby averting a serious error. The relieved candidate thanked the officer and left the office.