Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nagaland, V Shashank Shekhar, has appraised that political parities setting up candidates with criminal cases will have to follow guidelines and instructions, as per the directive of the Election Commission.
The CEO office informed that it is mandatory for political parties to upload detailed information of candidates with pending criminal cases (including the nature of the offences and relevant particulars) along with reasons for selection, on their websites.
The reasons as to selection shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, and not mere ‘winnability’ at the polls, it stated.
According to the ECI directive, such information should be published in one local vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper and on the official social media platforms of the party, including Facebook and Twitter.
“These details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate and not prior to two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations,” it stated.
The political party concerned shall then submit a report of compliance with these directions with the ECI within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate.
The political parties also have to publish information regarding criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, to it easier for the voters to access.
“It will also become necessary now to have on the homepage a caption with ‘candidates with criminal antecedents’,” the circular read.
Further, if any political party fails to submit such compliance report with the ECI, it will be brought to the notice of the court as being in contempt of the court’s orders, it added.