1 year after elections, 4 candidates disqualified

CHANDIGARH: The office of chief electoral officer (CEO) on Saturday announced the disqualification of four candidates, three of whom unsuccessfully contested the elections from Sonipat constituency during the 2009 assembly polls, while the fourth had contested the Ellenabad by-election in February 2010. They have been disqualified for not having met the deadline for filing their accounts and expenditure statement.
The CEO, Sumita Singh announced their disqualification.Joginder of Gannaur city, Surender of Sandal Kalan village, Vinod Kumar of Sec-14, all from Sonipat, and Deepak Goyal from Ellenabad, who contested from the Ellenabad constituency have been disqualified. Goyal too had lost the by-election.
According to rules, a candidate is supposed to submit the accounts and expenditure statement before the RO within 30 days of the completion of election process, which translates into the time period between filing of nomination papers and till the person takes oath after elections.
The delayed action has also put a question mark on the role of the officials concerned.