THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 7,845 candidates, out of more than 75,000 contestants in the recently held local body elections, are set to be disqualified from contesting civic polls for the next five years for failing to submit their election expenditure statements. According to preliminary estimates, no elected representative figures in the list of candidates who have failed to submit expenditure details.
“The candidates will be served show-cause notices, with a 20-day window to submit an explanation. They will be barred from contesting elections for five years if the explanation is not found satisfactory,” State Election Commissioner A Shajahan told TNIE.
In the 2020 civic polls, 9,016 of the 74,899 candidates who contested were disqualified on similar grounds. However, the process could be completed only two years later, in 2022, as expenditure submission and scrutiny were carried out manually.
This time, the entire exercise is expected to be completed in record time, following the introduction of an online expenditure-filing system for the first time in the state.
“In the coming weeks, the expenditure statements will be thoroughly verified, and show-cause notices will be issued in cases where discrepancies are detected,” Shajahan said.