Punjab Polls: Filing of nomination to begin from Jan 25, scrutiny of nomination on Feb 2

The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the election schedule for the Punjab Assembly elections and said that the filing of nomination will begin from Tuesday (January 25).

They also informed that the scrutiny of nomination will be done on February 2, while the last date of withdrawal of candidature is February 4.

Briefing about the details, Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju said that as per schedule announced, the filing of nomination papers for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha 2022 elections would start with issuance of notification on January 25 (Tuesday) and would continue till February 1.

"The scrutiny of the nominations would be done on February 2 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature would be February 4," Raju said.

The nominations for the upcoming elections would be filed in the office of respective returning officers from 11 am to 3 pm from January 25 to February 1, 2022.

Raju said that the nominations papers are to be filed in FORM 2B. Blank forms are available with the respective Returning Officer. Typed nomination papers will also be accepted provided they are in the prescribed format.

He also added that in order to qualify for a Vidhan Sabha seat, a candidate should be registered as an elector for any Vidhan Sabha Constituency of state.

"To satisfy the concerned Returning Officer on this point, candidates should produce a certified copy of the relevant entry of the electoral roll in force," he said.

A certificate is also required to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation in the prescribed form before the concerned Returning Officer or any other person is authorized by the Election Commission of India.

"The oath/affirmation should be taken/made by a candidate after his nomination before the date fixed for the scrutiny of nominations.

The Chief Election Officer (CEO) said that January 26 is a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; therefore, nomination papers cannot be presented to the Returning Officer on that day.

January 30 being Sunday is a holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; therefore, nomination papers cannot be presented to the Returning Officer on that day too.

The Model Code of Conduct has come into force in Punjab from the date of the announcement of elections (January 8, 2022) by the Election Commission of India and shall remain in force till the completion of the election process.

Raju further said that there are total 2,12,75,066 registered voters in the state for these elections, out of which 1,11,87,857 male, 1,00,86,514 female, 695 third genders, 1,44,667 PWD voters, 1,10,163 service voters, 1,601 NRI voters and 5,13,229 voters are above the age of 80.

There are 24,689 polling stations on 14,751 polling locations. All polling booths will be covered under web-casting on polling day.

The voting would be held on February 20, 2022 (Sunday) from 08.00 AM to 06.00 PM and counting of votes would be on March 10, 2022 (Thursday).

( With inputs from ANI )

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