SHILLONG, Jan 18: The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force with the Election Commission of India announcing the poll schedule for Meghalaya and two other Northeastern states on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference after the announcement, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor said the provisions of the MCC would be strictly enforced according to the rules of the ECI.
He said there are different timelines and a standard guideline is that the MCC will take force within 72 hours of the announcement of the election.
Under the MCC, the district election officers will have to undo the defacement of government property within 24 hours of the announcement of the elections. The deadline in the case of the defacement of public property and misuse of public space is 48 hours and that of private property is 72 hours.
“There is a total ban on the misuse of official vehicles by any political party, candidate or any other person who is connected with the elections,” Kharkongor said.
Reading out the guidelines, he said the thumb rule is that a minister can come to the office in his official vehicle but cannot use it for the purpose of campaigning.
“The Z category or police protection for entitled individuals will continue but they cannot use it for political purposes,” he said. Kharkongor also said huge billboards of political parties and candidates will be removed as it comes under the defacement category.
“We will be issuing specific instructions for removing them systematically as all of them cannot be removed in one day,” he said.
Bank transactions of Rs 10 lakh and above will be monitored, he said, adding that banks have been instructed by the ECI to monitor suspicious cashless transactions.
Rs 28 lakh expenditure cap for candidates
The CEO said the expenditure of each candidate contesting the polls has been capped at Rs 28 lakh.
“We do not have the expenditure cap for the political parties as the CEO’s mandate is restricted to the candidate’s expenditure,” he said.
Kharkongor said the deputy commissioners have been asked to keep tabs on poll-related advertisements by individuals and parties from the public exchequer.
He said flying squads and trained expenditure monitoring teams will be activated immediately and deployed by the field functionaries, especially at the level of the DCs. A complaint monitoring mechanism has also been set up.
“No fresh development and construction work can start after the MCC comes into force but ongoing projects can continue,” he said.
Three categories of observers to be deployed
The CEO said three categories of observers will be deployed. They are general observers, police observers and expenditure observers.
He said the expenditure observers will be concentrating on districts or constituencies that have been marked as expenditure-sensitive constituencies (ESCs).
He further said 34 such ESCs have already been identified across the state for possible high-cash usage.
“There are some pockets in Jaintia Hills, within Shillong, in West Khasi Hills and in Garo Hills that have been identified as ESCs,” Kharkongor said.
Officials were seen removing the hoarding and advertisements of all the political parties installed across the city and other parts of the state.
The district magistrates and district election officers also issued orders under Section 144 CrPC prohibiting election meetings without permission from the DC and subsequently the headmen regarding the venue of the meeting. Use of PA system is prohibited between 10 pm and 6 am.
There is also a ban on protests, rallies and processions without mandatory permission from the district magistrate.
