Disclosure of Foreign Assets & ITR of 5-years are now mandatory for Lok Sabha & Assembly election contestants

Candidates planning to contest the elections for Legislative Assembly of the states or Lok Sabha have to fulfill certain criteria. They also have to submit a list of documents without which their nomination will be rejected.

The government has recently amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, on the insistence of the Election Commission. The amendment now makes it mandatory for candidates contesting Assembly & Lok Sabha elections to disclose their foreign assets & liabilities, IT Return information for five preceding years before the election.

Here is a look at all the documents & details to be submitted by candidates wishing to contest the State Assembly or the Lok Sabha election.

Eligibility Criteria

The person wishing to contest the election has to be a citizen of India and has to satisfy the following age criteria

• Lok Sabha (House of the People) - 25 years
• Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) - 25 years
• Rajya Sabha (Council of States) - 30 years
• Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) - 30 years

A person must be enrolled in the current electoral roll of any of the Parliamentary Constituencies for contesting elections from a Parliamentary Constituency. For contesting elections to State Legislature, the person must be enrolled in the current electoral roll of any of the assembly constituencies within that State. There are other disqualification criteria as listed in various electoral laws.

Check List of documents to be submitted

The following checklist of documents must be submitted by every contesting candidate.

• Nomination paper in Form 2A for Lok Sabha election and Form 2B for Assembly election.
• Affidavit in Form 26 with all the columns filled up and sworn before an Oath Commissioner or Magistrate of First Class or before a Notary Public. This includes details of pending criminal cases, movable & immovable assets including foreign assets, liabilities, sources of income, educational qualification etc.
• Certified extract of electoral roll (when candidate is an elector of a different constituency)
• Form A and Form B (applicable in the case of candidates set up by political parties)
• Copy of Caste certificates (if the candidate claims to belong to SC/ST)
• Security deposit
• Oath and affirmation