By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday asked the Election Commission to make it mandatory for presidential candidates to declare their assets while filing nomination papers.
A BJP delegation, including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Vijay Kumar Malhotra, visited the Election Commission and handed over a detailed letter on the issue written by Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani.
They demanded that Pratibha Patil, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate for the president's post backed by the Left Front and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), should make public her assets before the poll panel accepts her nomination papers.
Under the Representation of People's Act, the submission of income/assets details is obligatory only for representative elected directly, like Lok Sabha MPs or MLAs.
It therefore leaves out those elected indirectly like Rajya Sabha MPs, members of various legislative councils or the president and vice president.