Hyderabad: If any contesting candidate in municipal elections fails to submit election expenses within the stipulated time, he or she will be disqualified and will be declared ineligible to contest any election for three years.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has sent proposals to the government to make amend the GHMC Act and other relevant legislations for the purpose.
The SEC said in its proposal that there are no rules prescribed in the TS Municipalities (Conduct of Elections) Act on the procedure to be followed for disqualification of candidates who failed to account for election expenses in time.
The present procedure is time consuming and very difficult to follow with its limited staff, especially when there are five lakh contesting candidates in nearly one lakh constituencies in rural and urban local bodies, the SEC said.
Considering all these aspects and keeping in mind the busy schedule of district election authorities in day to day administration, the SEC has proposed certain amendments to the Panchayat Raj, Municipalities, Mun-icipal Corporations and GHMC Act:
The account of election expenses to be kept by a candidate or agent shall contain particulars and be in the given format.
The account shall be submitted to the municipal commissioner within 45 days of the declaration of the result.
If the accounts have not been submitted in time or in the required time, he will report it to the Election Commission.
Showcause notice should be issued why the defaulting candidate asking why he should not be disqualified. Candidate must reply in 20 days.
If SEC is not satisfied with the reply, it can disqualify him declare him ineligible for three years.
