The Election Commission of India (ECI) has disqualified 529 people, including four from West Bengal, who contested the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections as independent candidates but did not submit their expenditure accounts, from voting and contesting elections to Parliament and state legislative assemblies for a period of three years.
The disqualification order, under Section 10A of the Representation of the People Act 1951, strips them of their rights to vote and stand in elections held under the Representation of the People Act 1951. The order was issued on 16 March.
Under Article 10A, every candidate competing in the election is legally required to submit a detailed account of all election expenses within 30 days of the announcement of the results. This includes every rupee spent – from election rallies and car rentals to printing of banners and posters. Failure to comply with this condition shall enable the Committee to disqualify the candidate for a period of three years.
According to a senior Election Commission of India official, “Independent candidates, who lack organizational support from political parties, are particularly vulnerable to missing the application deadline – either due to ignorance of the requirements or inability to compile the necessary documents within the stipulated window.”
However, the disqualification will not extend to panchayat and municipal elections, which are conducted by State Election Commissions (SEC), not the Election Commission of India. Since Section 10A operates under the RPA Act of 1951, disqualification does not automatically extend to elections governed by separate state laws.
Uttar Pradesh (120) tops the list of 529 ineligible individuals nationwide, followed by Karnataka (59), Madhya Pradesh (39), Chhattisgarh (36), Tamil Nadu (33), Bihar (28), Telangana (27), Punjab (27), Uttarakhand (27), Andhra Pradesh (25), Haryana (22), Kerala (16) and Assam. (14), Rajasthan (12), Goa (3), Gujarat (9), Himachal Pradesh (9), Odisha (8), Delhi (4), West Bengal (4), Jharkhand (2), and one each from Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura and Lakshadweep.
