Mumbai: More than seven days later the nomination process is over, and three days later the final list of candidates for the 2026 BMC polls is declared, the election department has failed to publish the nomination papers and affidavits of the candidates. The affidavits are the key documents for the voters, which reveals crucial information like sources of income, criminal background and a essay on what work the candidates wishes to do for the ward.
Responsibility Shift Confusion
When the FPJ asked the state election commission, the officials said the BMC has been entrusted responsibility of publishing the nomination papers and affidavits. While, officials from BMC said the Information Technology (IT) department is working on publishing the affidavits. "Unlike other municipal corporations, BMC has as many as 1700 candidates in fray. The work is time consuming. We expect the IT department to publish the affidavits online in next two days," said a civic official.
AAP Criticism on Transparency
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party's Mumbai president Preeti Sharma Menon took social media to post a document of SEC guidelines stating, "The Returning Officer shall circulate the copies of the nomination papers and affidavits submitted by the candidates by pasting them on the notice board and posting them on the website. Also, the information on nomination papers received daily should be prepared ward-wise and published on the notice board and the website."
Menon Condemns Election Process
"As per the rules, Maharashtra SEC should have uploaded all candidate affidavits immediately on filing of nominations - before scrutiny. Instead the scrutiny is over, the final candidate lists declared but the affidavits are still not uploaded! Zero transparency! The Mumbai municipal elections are farcical to say the least," Menon said.
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