With the announcement of the dates for the Delhi Assembly elections on Monday, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into place, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said on Tuesday.
All government departments have been instructed to take down political posters and images of political leaders from their websites and social media accounts within 24 hours, the CEO said.
All five urban local bodies of the city have also been instructed to enforce these provisions which primarily deal with enforcement of the anti-defacement law, the CEO said. This includes ensuring all such defacement is removed from private property as well within 72 hours. The MCC also provides that no new development work must be started and that government vehicles and other resources are not misused, the CEO added.
At a meeting of all political parties held on Tuesday, provisions of the MCC were conveyed and the process of Media Certification and Monitoring Cell (MCMC) were also explained. So far, two complaints on violations of the MCC had been received from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over certain television programmes, the CEO said.
In a first, the CEO said that persons with disabilities flagged on the electoral roll and senior citizens above the age of 80 across Delhi will have the facility to cast their vote as “Absentee Voters”. Such voters would have to file their applications with the respective returning officer within five days from the notification of the election on January 14. Between January 14 and January 19, special teams will be constituted to go door-to-door and facilitate the process, the CEO said.
Digital voter slip
Apart from this, at 11 constituencies in Delhi, voters will also have the facility to use a digital voter slip, the CEO said. At such polling stations, mobile phones will be allowed inside the booth for the QR code on the digital slip to be scanned following which phones will have to be deposited in a tray before the vote is cast and can be picked up later, he added.
Commenting on the impact of violent clashes during the election process, Mr. Singh said that there was no reason to believe that the law and order situation in Delhi was not conducive to carry out elections. He added that the police would keep a check on the same and would make provisions to ensure safety. With regard to whether there was any provision to call off the elections if the law and order situation deteriorated, Mr. Singh said that it would be the prerogative of the ECI.
