What is the issue?

Form A and Form B of national parties are often flawless and they are rejected only if they are submitted after the deadline.

What documents are submitted by an election candidate?

• Candidates aspiring to contest assembly elections on the ticket of a political party are required to submit various documents and forms.
• The documents include those on citizenship, age and caste (if they are contesting from a reserved seat), as well as an affidavit on criminal cases if any, and property and cash owned by the candidates and their immediate family members.
• Perhaps the most important documents are Form A and Form B, which denote that a certain candidate has been approved by a political party and should be allotted the election symbol of that party.
• These two forms referred collectively as ‘AB Form’, prove that a political party has appointed a person in charge of distributing tickets and the candidate has obtained a ticket for a certain constituency from that person.

What is Form A?

• This is a communication from a ‘recognized national or state political party’ or a ‘registered but unrecognized political party’ to the returning officer of the constituency or the chief election officer of the state, conveying the names of office-bearers of the party, who have been authorized to intimate names of the candidates chosen by the party to contest the polls.
• This communication must come from either the president or secretary of the political party.
• These have to be signed and must carry the party seal.
• The form also contains specimen signatures of the office-bearers who have been authorized by the party to distribute tickets.

What is Form B?

• This is a communication from the authorized office-bearer of a political party (whose name is mentioned in Form A issued by the president or secretary of the party) to the returning officer of the constituency.
• This letter informs the returning officer about the name of the authorized candidate for the party, who should be allotted the party symbol.
• The letter also contains a substitute name for allotment of the symbol and candidature, in case the nomination of the primary candidate is rejected during scrutiny.
• Form B also certifies that the person to whom the authorized candidature has been issued is a member of the political party and his name appears in the party rolls.

What are the frequent reasons for rejection of nomination?

• According to officials, one of the most frequent reasons for rejection of a nomination paper is a delay in submitting AB forms and other documents.
• Another main reason for rejection of a form is leaving sections of the affidavit unfilled.
• Form A and Form B of national parties are often flawless and they are rejected only if they are submitted after the deadline.
• Forms can be rejected in some cases where sponsors are not from the constituency from where he was contesting.
• Sometimes, political parties give B forms to more than one candidate, which complicates matters.
• In such cases, one form has to be removed, one of the two candidates can be asked to put his name as a substitute.

Source: Indian Express