Punjab CEO seeks parties' cooperation for fair LS polls

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) today sought cooperation from all political parties to ensure free and fair Lok Sabha elections in the state with strict implementation of the model code of conduct.
Presiding over an all-party representatives' meeting here, CEO V K Singh said the state would go to polls on April 30 and the notification would be issued on April 2, according to an official release.
It was imperative for all political parties and their candidates to strictly adhere to the model code of conduct for a smooth, transparent and participative election process, he said.
Singh said as per the directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), around 700 special teams including three static teams and flying squads, besides a video surveillance team, would be deployed for each assembly constituency to check any malpractice or violation of code.

The CEO said all political parties and their candidates should ensure strict compliance of the ECI's directions regarding expenditure limit, which has been increased to Rs 70 lakh, with special emphasis on up-keeping the expenditure account as per the rate list being provided by the District Electoral Officer (DEO) concerned.
He said the ECI had taken strong notice of paid news and surrogate advertisements and every suspicious news or advertisement would be scrutinised by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC). If they are found to be paid or surrogate, their expenditure would be included in the expenditure of the candidate concerned.

He said all parties should submit the list of their star campaigners to the ECI in time so that expenditure related to such campaigns could be proportionately added to the party as well as the candidate's expenditure.
He said every printed publicity material must have the names of the printer and publisher.
As per the directions of ECI, a special 'voter mela' would be organized throughout the state on March 9 at all 22,018 polling booths with the twin purpose of giving an opportunity to the existing voters to check their names in electoral rolls and give others a chance to get themselves registered as voters.