Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer, V Shashank Shekhar, has instructed all the deputy commissioners (DC), additional deputy commissioners (ADC) and district election officers, and all heads of department, to strictly adhere to the election code of conduct for free and fair election during the 14th general election to Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) 2023.
A DIPR report stated that the CEO apprised all political parties, candidates or any other person connected with election including ministers, advisors, MLAs and their personal secretaries and assistants not to misuse official vehicles for campaign, electioneering or election-related travel during election, as per instructions/ guidelines of the Election Commission of India.
The official vehicles include all vehicles belonging to central and state governments, public undertakings and joint sector undertakings of central and state governments, local bodies, municipal corporations, municipalities, marketing boards (by whatever name known), cooperative societies, autonomous districts councils, or any other body in which public funds, however small a portion of the total, are invested.
They also include vehicles belonging to the Ministry of Defence and the central police organisations under the Ministry of Home Affairs and state governments.
The Commission’s guidelines have clearly mentioned that there should be a total and absolute ban on use of official vehicles except officials performing any election-related official duty, it stated.
The CEO directed all the DEOs to take necessary action for compliance of ECI instructions within 24 hours of the announcement of the elections.
The CEO also stated that minister are entitled to use their official vehicles only for commuting from their official residence for official works, provided that such commuting is not combined with any electioneering or any political activity.
“As per the ECI Consolidated Instructions 2014 standing order, the commission further directs that cars / vehicles shall, under no circumstances, be allowed to move in convoys of more than ten vehicles, excluding the security vehicles,” it stated.
Further, the CEO directed all the district administration to keep a close watch to detect if any official vehicle belonging to any authority specified in the preceding para, is being used for electioneering purposes.
In case it is so, the district magistrate should, forthwith, requisition or caused to be requisitioned such vehicles after following due procedure for election work under Section 160 of the Representative of the People Act, 1951. It further stated that such requisitioned vehicles would not be released until after the completion of the process of elections.