from old pages
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
At one time the Election Commission had planned to ban independent candidates. The Election Commission had deliberated to prevent independent candidates, who are considered a headache for the Commission and the administration, from contesting the elections. The Commission believed that independent candidates cause disruption in elections.
A news regarding this was published in the October 15, 1965 issue of Amar Ujala. According to the news, the then Election Commissioner Sundaram had given this information in Lucknow. He had said that the plan to ban independent candidates is under consideration in the Election Commission. Independent candidates should not be allowed to contest elections. Some stand only to collect votes. Sudaram said that there is no benefit of some independent members being elected in a democracy. If any one party does not get majority in the elections, there is a possibility of horse-trading by independent candidates.
There were a large number of independent candidates
In the 1967 general elections, a large number of independent candidates were in the fray in UP. According to the news published in the January 22, 1967 issue of Amar Ujala, 157 nomination papers were filed for the Lok Sabha and 1296 for the Assembly. This number was much higher than the 1962 elections.
