Nomination filing opens for Rajasthan assembly polls

The nomination filing process for the Rajasthan assembly polls formally started on Monday, with the state’s chief secretary issuing a gazette notification for the conduct of the election. The last date for submission of the nomination papers is 6 November.

According to an official statement, Chief Secretary Usha Sharma issued the notification with permission from Governor Kalraj Mishra and the recommendation of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI further issued a notification, according to sections 30 and 56 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to announce the schedule of the election process, it said.

Chief Election Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta said the notification of the schedule of the polls would be followed by public notices from returning officers (RO) of all 200 assembly constituencies on 30 October.

This information will be posted at the offices of the ROs, assistant ROs and other important offices across the state. For the process of filing nomination papers, 5 November will be a day off. The papers will be scrutinised by 7 November and 9 November will be the last date for the withdrawal of names.

As per the schedule declared by the ECI, in Rajasthan, polling for the assembly elections will be conducted in one phase on 25 November by casting of votes through EVMs between 7 am and 6 pm. The counting of votes will be done on 3 December.

Gupta stated that according to the Representation of the People Act, 1951 while filing a nomination, a general candidate needs to deposit Rs 10,000 as surety. For candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, the surety amount is Rs 5,000.

According to the official, at the time of filing nominations, a candidate can enter the RO room along with not more than four people. At the time of nomination filing, the convoy of a candidate cannot have more than three vehicles within the periphery of 100 metres of the RO office.

The RO will accept nomination papers between 11 am and 3 pm only, he said. The CEO has instructed all district election officers and ROs to ensure that ECI guidelines are fully adhered to during the process of nomination filing.

The ROs should remain in the respective offices during the entire period and the process should be properly video-graphed, he has said. Any candidate can file four nominations in the same constituency and can contest in a maximum of two assembly constituencies.