ECI warns political parties against unfair practices in upcoming Lok Sabha elections

The Election Commission of India on March 1 warned political parties and political leaders to not use money and muscle power or any other unfair means during elections.

Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar while briefing the media on the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections said, "Today we will brief you all on how we are preparing for Lok Sabha elections...The purpose is to make sure that polls will take place in a very transparent and fair manner. Every political party will have their level playing field, there will be no biases. Seven political parties came to meet us- AAP, BJP, CPI(M), INC and from regional parties- BSP, SP and Apna Dal. They all said and demanded that the high standards that have been established by the EC for elections need to be followed more strictly, police should be equal to everyone, in elections, money power and muscle power must not be used".

Taking note of the various trends and cases of plummeting levels of political campaign discourse in recently held elections, the Election Commission of India has issued further advisory to all political parties to maintain decorum and utmost restraint in public campaigning and raise the level of election campaigning to "issue"-based debate.

The poll body has also put the 'Star Campaigners' and candidates on a 'notice' in case of violations that followed the previously known methodologies during elections to avoid breaching the Model Code of Conduct.

The Election Commission will assess any indirect MCC violations as per advisory as a fair basis to rework the notices to be given in terms of time and content in issue in the forthcoming elections.

For the general election to the Lok Sabha and four state Legislative assemblies, all phases and geographical areas of the elections shall be the basis for determining "repeat" offences.

It may be recalled that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar recently emphasised that political parties should foster ethical and respectful political discourse that inspires rather than divides and promotes ideas instead of personal attacks. The Commission's proactive advisory now formally sets the stage for ethical political discourse and cuts clutter in the 2024 General elections.

Also read: Election Commission warns political parties to follow model code of conduct for upcoming Lok Sabha polls