The Election Commission rolling out a stringent timeline for advertising criminal record by candidates

Ahead of Bihar elections, the Election Commission of India is set to tighten the rulebook on the declaration of criminal records by candidates.

ET has understood that the poll panel -- in view of the need for greater voter awareness – is set to declare openly detailed guidelines specifying a candidate’s advertising schedule, with clear timelines for declaration of criminal records.

The first public declaration might be slotted between the candidates being selected by the party to the date of the nomination being filed, they said. The second declaration might come after the returning officer accepts the nomination and the last date could be advanced to four days before campaigning ends and model code of conduct (MCC) applies, they added.

As per existing Election Commission guidelines, the candidates have to publish this information thrice -- once in a national & twice in a regional newspaper & thrice on TV channels.

According to the poll panel’s notification of Oct 2018, the declarations are done after the last date of withdrawal of nomination & two days before the end of campaigning. Only the candidates, who contest elections, needed to publish the detailed records.