Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Jan. 18 (EMN): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday while announcing the dates for assembly elections in the three states have said the Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect which will be applicable to all candidates, political parties and, the state government.
The Commission has issued instructions for swift and stringent action for enforcement of Model Code of Conduct during the first 72 hours of announcement of the election schedule and strict enforcement action in the last 72 hours prior to the close of polls.
Government transport including official air-crafts, vehicles, machinery and personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power, public places for holding election meetings shall not be monopolised.
Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements shall be meticulously avoided, the order stated.
Ministers and other authorities should not announce any financial grant in any form or promise thereof, lay foundation stone of projects or schemes of any kind, make any promise of construction of road, provision of drinking water facility and make any ad-hoc appointment in government, and public sector undertaking.
Defacement of Government property- the order also stated that all wall writing, posters/papers or defacement in any other form on government property shall be removed within 24 hours from the announcement of elections. The order covers to all government premises that includes government office and the campus wherein the office building is situated.
Ceiling of Election Expenses for Candidates:
The election expenses ceiling for candidates has been revised by the Government of India vide Notification dated 28th February, 2014. As per the revised ceilings, the maximum limit of election expenses for the Assembly Constituencies is Rs. 20 lac per candidate. All candidates are required to furnish their accounts of expenditure within 30 days of declaration of results.
The Commission has instructed that the release of funds under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Schemes, no fresh release of funds under the Member of Parliament (including Rajya Sabha members) Local Area Development fund shall be made in any part of the country where election is in progress. Similarly no fresh release of funds under the MLAs’/ MLCs’ Local Area Development Fund shall be made, if any such scheme is in operation, till the completion of election process.
Moreover, if any word order under the MPLAD scheme issued before the promulgation of the code of conduct has not started then it has to be started only after the election process.
However, if a work has actually started, that can continue. There shall be no bar to the release of payments for completed work(s) subject to the full satisfaction of the concerned officials.
New Initiatives
Use of VVPATs at all the Polling Stations: VVPATs will be used along with EVMs in all Polling Stations of each assembly constituency to enhance the transparency and credibility of the elections.
All- women managed polling stations’ would be set up in one polling station for each Assembly Constituency.
The polling stations would also be made friendly for ‘Persons with Disabilities’ in order to make elections more accessible.
The Commission has directed that Webcasting, CCTV coverage, videography and digital cameras will also be deployed inside critical polling booths and in vulnerable areas to closely monitor the proceedings on the poll day without violating secrecy of voting process.
