Cong asks for affidavits even from ticket-seekers

In a bid to project a clean image and be one up on its rivals, the Congress today announced that every candidate seeking a party ticket in the Assembly polls will have to submit a complete affidavit with their nomination form.

The decision comes in the wake of Election Commission directions, upheld by the Supreme Court, that every candidate for Parliament or Assembly must furnish full information on their liabilities/overdues, educational qualification, criminal antecedents, if any, movable and immovable assets, in an affidavit, to be submitted to the Returning Officer, along with the nomination papers.

The Congress has decided to take the measure a step further by making it incumbent on ticket-seekers to do the same. In other words, the party will weed out criminals at the ticket-distribution stage, taking the burden off the Commission8217;s shoulders.

Denying that the Congress was making a virtue out of necessity, Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said: 8216;8216;The BJP and other parties were not in favour of full disclosure. We have been supportive of the move throughout.8217;8217;

All five PCCs of the election-going states have been asked to inform aspirants of the need to furnish complete affidavits 8216;8216;so that while selecting the names, the affidavit can be verified by the Central Election Committee8217;8217;.