42 disqualified in TN from contesting polls for three years

Chennai: Election Commission of India has disqualified 42 candidates in Tamil Nadu from contesting in elections for three years as they had allegedly failed to file their poll-related expenditure accounts.

ECI has disqualified 10 persons who fought assembly elections in 2011 and 32 others who contested the Lok Sabha poll in 2014, for not filing their expenditure account, Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, Rakesh Lakhoni told reporters here on Monday.

He said the disqualified candidates have been barred from contesting elections for three years. The disqualified candidates who fought the Lok Sabha polls had contested from constituencies, including Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram, Arakkonam and Vellore.

Thirty two others who were barred from fighting polls had contested in 2011 State Assembly elections from constituencies including Mettupalayam, Kavundamplayam Coimbatore south, Kinathudavadu, Pollachi and Ramanathapuram.

However, it was not immediately known if any of the 42 disqualified contestants of the 2011 Assembly and 2014 Lok Sabha elections had fought the polls on the ticket of a political party.

As per electoral law, EC shall disqualify a person if it is satisfied that a person has no justification for failure to lodge the expenditure account or for failure to furnish it within the time and manner stipulated.

PTI