Before the Telangana assembly elections, the election authorities rejected nominations of 606 candidates in 119 constituencies in the state. These nomination papers for the upcoming were rejected due to incomplete information.
After scrutiny, 2898 validly nominated candidates remain in the state election till now. The returning officers across the 119 Assembly constituencies have assessed the nomination papers of 4,798 candidates who had submitted about 5,716 nominations.
Out of them, the nominations of 2898 candidates seem valid, while 606 were rejected. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 15.
What is the process of nominations before elections?
Candidate Nomination is part of the umbrella app called ENCORE (Enabling Communications on Real-time Environment). The application is the first input module that feeds into the Candidate Affidavit Portal, Voter Helpline Portal, EVM stock requirement, counting data, and results display.
The Election Commission of India has traditionally used paper methods for receiving the Candidate Nomination. These nominations were later digitized and uploaded. It created several errors in data entry and uploads.
Further, each application like that meant for counting will have to capture the names of the candidates on the application. Once digitized the application displays candidate related information like the basic profile, party name, and their original affidavit. The Returning Officer uses the application for Candidate Scrutiny and finalizing the list of contesting candidates.
The information of the candidates is then published on the dedicated candidate portal including their affidavit. Similarly, the information punched into Candidate Nomination is also made available through the Voter Helpline and Pwd Mobile App.
In this way, the nomination of the candidate makes the election process transparent. It gives voters access to essential information about the candidates they are going to vote for.
Nominations process for Telangana Assembly Elections 2023
The process of filing nominations in Telangana started on 3 November when the gazette notification was released for the assembly elections of Telangana. The last day of nomination was on 10 November. The last day of withdrawal of election candidature is 15 November.
Here, the nominations of 2898 candidates were deemed valid, whereas 606 nominations were rejected. This time most of the candidates are independent. In a press statement released by the electoral officers, 5,716 sets of nominations were received by the returning officers from as many as 4,798 candidates for 119 Assembly constituencies in the State since November 3.
Telangana polling is scheduled for November 30 and counting will be done on December 3, 2023. Coming to the nominations filled, the Gajwel Assembly constituency, where the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) is to contest the election, saw a record number of 114 nominations.
KCR is contesting for the third consecutive term in Gajwel after the 2014 and 2018 Assembly constituencies. Similarly, is the case with Kamareddy, where as many as 58 nominations were filed in the constituency (where KCR is also contesting). Interestingly, about 50 nominations were filed by the candidates in Kamareddy and Gajwel.
The other constituencies that saw the highest number of nominations included 67 candidates from Medchal, 57 candidates from LB Nagar, 50 candidates from Munugode, and 15 candidates from Kodangal.
The lowest number of candidates who filed nominations were in Narayanpet (seven candidates) and Balkonda (nine candidates). On 13 November, the nomination of Senior Congress leader J Jana Reddy was rejected during scrutiny. He is contesting from the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency.
Conclusion
Nomination is important for free and fair elections. This gives voters access to information so that the voters can decide whom to vote for and whom not.
The candidates are also required to keep in mind that nomination is an important step towards contesting the election. It is their responsibility to fill in correct information to maintain transparency in the election process. Misinformation or any incomplete information can lead to rejection of their nominations as in the case of the 606 rejected nominations.
India is one of the largest democracies and elections held here are to maintain accountability to the common people. Democracy is for the people, by the people, to the people. The free and fair Telangana assembly election 2023 is a positive step for democracy.
