DEO Sakshi Sawhney chairs meeting with political parties regarding filling of nominations

Ludhiana, May 2, 2024: The District Election Officer (DEO)-cum Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney chaired a meeting with representatives from various political parties in her office to brief them about the process of nomination filing for the upcoming General Elections to Lok Sabha-2024, in adherence to the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.

Sawhney informed that the notification for the elections would be issued on May 7, and the nominations can be submitted from May 7 to May 14. No nominations will be accepted on May 11 (Saturday) and 12 (Sunday) due to public holidays. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on May 15, and the last date of withdrawal would be May 17. Polling would be held on June 1 and the counting of votes would take place on June 04, 2024. 

She also clarified that nominations for the polls would be received only in her office from 11 am to 3 pm, and in her absence, Assistant Returning Officer Deepak Bhatia would accept the nominations in the DC office only. Only five persons including candidate will be allowed during nomination filling.

She also informed that the Election Commission of India had set an expenditure limit of Rs 95 lakh for every candidate during the 2024 general elections, and a separate account should be opened for the purpose of election expenditure. The banks had been already directed to facilitate them in this regard.

The DEO also said that nominations could be filed through the Suvidha online portal, but the candidate has to submit hard copies of nomination papers with her office at any cost. She also directed that the proposer of a nomination must necessarily be from the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency only. There must be one proposer for the recognized parties and ten proposers for independents and unrecognized parties. The candidate can submit four sets of nominations.

Speaking of the security deposits, DEO Sawhney stated that it is Rs 25000 in cash for general category candidates and Rs 12500 for SC/ST candidates. SC/ST caste certificate will be attached mandatory. The amount must be deposited before filling the nomination or at the time of filling nomination. A certified copy of the voter list must be attached with nomination forms and if the candidate is from outside the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, then it is mandatory for them candidate to submit a certified copy of voter list (electoral roll) of the respective constituency. The passport photograph with a white background of the candidate must not be older than 3 months and must not be in any kind of uniform. She further added that it was mandatory for all political parties and candidates to publish criminal antecedents of their candidates at least three times in newspapers, television channels, and on their websites.

The District Election Officer hoped that all the political parties would cooperate and adhere to the guidelines of ECI, thereby encouraging a positive environment for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the Lok Sabha Elections. 

The representatives of political parties were also apprised of offences under IPC which can lead to disqualification. They were also given a demo of online nomination filling process on Suvidha portal. 

ADC Major Amit Sareen, ARO Deepak Bhatia among others were also present during the meeting.