Abide by model code of conduct, J&K political parties told

Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer (CEO) Umang Narula Friday asked political parties to abide by the model code of conduct during the five-phase Lok Sabha elections in the state.

At a meeting of political parties convened here, Narula requested their representatives to cooperate with officials and adhere to the Election Commission (EC) guidelines regarding poll expenditure, publicity, election manifesto, campaigning and the like.

He re-emphasised that the instructions should be read and understood by all political parties, contesting candidates and their agents/representatives, to avoid any misgivings or lack of information or understanding/interpretation.

He said expenditure observers would keep a close watch on election expenditure of the candidates and ensure no inducement is offered to the electors during the entire election process for exercise of their franchise.

He further said the political parties would need prior certification for any kind of publicity during the elections, including advertisements in the form of posters, TV ads, newspaper ads etc.

He said the EC has created media certification and monitoring committees to deal with any paid news and other media-related violations, besides carrying out existing provisions of pre-certification of political advertisements.

Narula said to facilitate voters, the EC has directed that voter slip along with photo would be distributed to all enrolled voters by the district election officers. These slips would also be accepted as identity proof at the polling stations.

He said all electoral rolls would be exhibited at the polling stations on March 9 for addition of any left out voters to the list.