Voters in Nagpur are being kept in the dark about the backgrounds of candidates contesting the upcoming municipal elections. This follows a significant delay in uploading mandatory affidavits to the official election website, raising serious questions about transparency.
Critical Information Missing for Voters
Nearly a week after candidates submitted their nomination papers for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections, not a single affidavit has been made public online. These documents are crucial as they contain detailed information about a candidate's assets, liabilities, educational qualifications, and any criminal antecedents. Candidates filed these affidavits with returning officers during the nomination process, but the public cannot access them.
Nagpur Lags Behind Other Cities
The delay stands in stark contrast to the prompt actions of other urban local bodies. For instance, the Pune Municipal Corporation, which oversees 42 wards and a much larger voter population, successfully uploaded all candidate affidavits within days of the nomination deadline. This efficient process has allowed Pune's citizens to scrutinize their candidates, while Nagpur's electorate remains uninformed.
Election officials have stated that the process is underway and that the documents will be uploaded soon. A senior civic election official cited technical and administrative procedures as the reason for the hold-up, assuring that all affidavits would be available before polling day. However, officials failed to provide a concrete timeline for this disclosure.
Consequences for Democratic Scrutiny
The absence of this vital data has forced voters to rely on unofficial sources for information. Civil society activists emphasize that these affidavits are an essential tool for informed voting. They allow citizens to evaluate candidates based on their financial integrity and background, moving beyond mere party symbols and campaign rhetoric.
With election campaigning now gaining momentum across all wards, this delay has severely limited public scrutiny during a critical phase. Political observers warn that timely disclosure is fundamental to electoral transparency, especially in local body polls where the elected representatives' decisions directly impact citizens' daily lives, from water supply to waste management.
