Election-related complaints climb up to 6,059

Besides violations of code of conduct, complaints about EVMs, exclusion or inclusion of names in electoral rolls have also been recorded

The number of election-related complaints in the run-up to next month’s Assembly elections have gone up almost two-fold in the past fortnight with the Delhi Election Office receiving 6,059 such reports till November 15 compared with 2,927 till October end.

Officials, however, said owing to the recent awareness programmes undertaken by the Election Commission, the rate of complaints, specifically related to violation of the model code of conduct, have come down.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the District Election Officer said the complaints were received at the Chief Election Office headquarters, all nine District Control Rooms and online. Of the 6,059 complaints, 5,898 complaints were deposed of till Saturday.

A bulk of the complaints, 3,880, was received online and the remaining were made through phone calls, facsimile and other media. Besides violations of model code of conduct, complaints on functioning of electronic voting machines, postal ballots or exclusion or inclusion of names in electoral rolls have also been recorded.

Common violations of the model code of conduct include conducting rallies without prior approval or, at times, without the knowledge of concerned authorities, distributing liquor or other freebies, defacing private or public property.

Instructions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer include disposing the complaints and entering the ‘action taken report’’ to a centralised system within 24 hours of receiving them.

According to the latest data available, over 350 FIRs have been lodged against political parties till last Friday for violation of model code of conduct with the Aam Aadmi Party topping the list. Nearly a third of those cases are registered against it. The ruling Congress has been accused in 65 such cases while the corresponding number for the BJP is 77.

A total number of 5,867 hoardings from public property and 3,245 from private property were removed till November 15 leading to the registration of 239 and 81 FIRs, respectively.

Taking preventive actions as per the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Delhi Police Act, the police have booked close to 32,000 people. The statement read that so far 1,400 licensed arms have been deposited and 51 unlicenced arms seized.