Mumbai, Dec 31: Milind Deora, Shiv Sena (Shinde) MP, has demanded that the nomination of candidates of parties who have used digital signatures in A and B forms be rejected.
In a letter to the state election commissioner, Deora said “procedural irregularities” have been committed in the issue, authentication and submission of A and B forms.
These forms respectively inform the Commission about the office-bearers of parties and who among them are authorised to sign letters granting the ticket of the party concerned.
Alleged deviation from prescribed procedure
Deora said “it has come to notice that several parties have purportedly issued, verified and submitted Form A and B by affixing digital signatures instead of following the procedure expressly prescribed by the Commission”.
Physical signatures mandatory, says Deora
He said the Commission mandates that A and B forms are to be physically signed by the duly authorised office-bearer of the recognised political party and should be submitted strictly as per applicable rules.
“Any deviation from the mandatory procedure vitiates the validity of such forms,” he added.
Warning against future electoral implications
Deora said the acceptance of forms with digital signatures will set a “dangerous precedent” for elections in future and undermine the Commission's rules and instructions.
He has demanded that all A and B forms with digital signatures be declared invalid and the candidature of the persons concerned be disallowed.
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He has asked the Commission to immediately issue appropriate instructions to all returning officers in the interest of free, fair and lawful elections.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
