Published Sep 05, 2026 | 12:19 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2026 | 12:19 PM
Aassan Maulan was disqualified for under-reporting his expenses during the 2021 Assembly campaign
The Election Commission of India has disqualified JMH Aassan Maulana, a Congress leader and former MLA from Velachery, from contesting elections for three years for failing to submit a true and correct account of his election expenses in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.
Maulana contested the Velachery Assembly constituency as a Congress candidate in the DMK-led alliance and won the seat in 2021.
According to an order published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette on August 28, 2026, the Commission found discrepancies in the election expenditure account submitted by Maulana.
The case concerns expenditure on newspaper advertisements published during the election campaign.
The District Election Officer had estimated the total expenditure on the advertisements at ₹32.05 lakh, while only ₹17,03,548 (53%) had been included in the candidate’s election expense account.
The Election Commission held that Maulana had failed to lodge a true and correct account of election expenses within the time and manner prescribed by law, in violation of Sections 77 and 78 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Invoking its powers under Section 10A of the Representation of the People Act, the Commission ordered his disqualification for three years from the date of the order.
The order was issued on August 19, 2026, by the Election Commission of India and subsequently published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.
According to his MyNeta page, Aassan Maulana had declared assets worth ₹16,32,75,450 ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. He had liabilities of ₹9,64,53,218.
The 43-year-old Maulana is an MBA graduate from Chennai’s New College and is the son of JM Haroon Rashid, a former Member of Parliament for Theni.
He is also a former state president of the Tamil Nadu Youth Congress.
He stood for re-election from Velachery in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but finished third. The TVK’s R Kumar clinched the seat, winning 80, 430 votes.
(With inputs from Subash Chandra Bose.)
