On Wednesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the disqualification of five candidates from the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections due to their failure to report election expenses as mandated by the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sibin C, revealed that the candidates had not submitted their election expense accounts to the Commission within the required timeframe, which has rendered them ineligible to contest elections for the next three years under Section 10 A of the Act.
The disqualified candidates include three from Sangrur district and one each from Mansa and Faridkot districts.
Shakti Kumar Gupta and Jaswinder Singh, both of whom contested in the Dhuri Assembly constituency, along with Sanmukh Singh Mokha from Sunam, are among those disqualified.
Additionally, Gurucharan Singh Sangha, who ran for the Faridkot Assembly seat, and Harbhagwan Sharma Bikhi, a candidate from Mansa district, have also faced disqualification for failing to comply with the financial reporting requirements.
ECI Mandates Candidates Submit Election Expenditure Reports Within 30 Days
According to the ECI’s regulations, all contesting candidates must submit a detailed account of their election expenditures to the District Election Officer (DEO) within 30 days following the declaration of results.
This is not the first instance of disqualification in Punjab’s recent electoral history.
In August, six candidates from the Gurdaspur district were similarly disqualified for neglecting to submit their campaign expenditure reports.
Those candidates included Sucha Singh, Prem Singh, Hardip Singh, Sunny, Karandeep Singh, and Gurpreet Singh.
Earlier, in March, seven more candidates faced disqualification for the same reason.
The ongoing enforcement of these regulations underscores the ECI’s commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
As electoral integrity remains a priority, candidates are reminded of the importance of adhering to the legal frameworks established by the ECI.
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