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The BJP’s candidate from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat has been declared elected unopposed.
This follows the rejection of the nomination paper of the candidate set up by the Congress party, as a BJP worker objected the nomination alleging that the signatures of his proposers were not genuine and the withdrawal of nominations by other candidates.
Section 33 of RP Act, 1951
It contains the requirements for a valid nomination.
As per the RP Act, an elector above 25 years of age can contest Lok Sabha election from any constituency in India.
The proposer(s) of the candidate should however be elector(s) from that respective constituency where the nomination is being filed.
In case of a recognised party (national or State), the candidate needs to have one proposer.
Candidates set up by unrecognised parties and independents need to be subscribed by ten proposers.
Section 33 of RP Act, 1951
A candidate can file up to four nomination papers with different set of proposers.
This is to enable the acceptance of nomination of a candidate even if one set of nomination paper is in order.
Section 36 of RP Act, 1951
It sets out the law with respect to the scrutiny of nomination papers by the Returning Officer
It provides that the RO shall not reject any nomination for a defect that is not of a substantial character.
However, it specifies that signature of the candidate or proposer found not genuine is grounds for rejection
There have been at least 35 candidates who have been elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha, with the last being in 2012.
In the instant case, however, the Congress party has alleged that the proposers were coerced to backtrack on their signatures.
It has approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking to set aside the decision of the RO and restart the election process.
However, it is unlikely that the EC would act on this request as Article 329(b) of the Constitution read with RP Act provides that no election shall be called into question except by an election petition before the concerned High Court.
One of the grounds on which such an election petition can be filed is improper rejection of nomination papers.
Hence, the legal recourse available is to file an election petition in the Gujarat High Court.
The RP Act provides that High Courts shall endeavour to conclude such trials within six months, which has mostly not been followed in the past.
Speedy disposal of election petitions would be a step in the right direction
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