Parties exercise caution in poll form distribution

The political parties are taking utmost care while distributing A and B forms to aspiring candidates, and most of the candidates will receive their forms only on February 4, the last day of withdrawal of nomination. The state election commission has extended the date for nomination form withdrawal by one day till February 4. It has also extended the date for scrutiny of documents till February 3.

The forms are mandatory and are issued by the party along with the names of the nominees and party symbols. Submission of these forms confirms a person as an official candidate of the party.

Those who do not submit the forms are considered independent candidates. Most of the parties distribute the forms at the last minute so that it falls into the right hands. Not many candidates submitted their forms on Wednesday, as the parties aimed to keep it till the last day.

Wednesday was the first day of scrutiny of papers filed by the candidates wherein hopefuls from open category submitted their documents to the election officers.

While the Congress distributed A and B forms to about 40 candidates on Wednesday, the BJP ensured that the candidates appeared before the party’s city president, Vikas Mathkari, to collect their A and B forms.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader, Ranjit Shirole, said that the party would be submitting the forms of their candidates directly to the officer concerned. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too did not give the A and B forms to any candidate on Wednesday. The Shiv Sena plans to distribute the forms on the morning of February 4.