The 2024 Indian General Elections are just around the corner with the political parties of the countries rolling out vigorous election campaigns to secure political supremacy. Keeping this in mind, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issues a set of guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to speeches, meetings, processions observers, party in power, election manifestos, and general conduct. These set of guidelines are known as the Model Code of Conduct and it has been evolved with the consensus of political parties, who have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code in its letter and spirit.
The Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately on the announcement of the election schedule by the commission for the need of ensuring free and fair elections. Its main purpose is to ensure that ruling parties, at the Centre and in the States, do not misuse their position of advantage to gain an unfair edge. It is designed to avert practices that are deemed corrupt under the model code of conduct.
Here are the main points of the Model Code of Conduct as per the Election Commission of India:
- Prohibits any activity which causes tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.
- There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
- Mosques, Churches, Temples, or other places of worship shall not be used as a forum for election propaganda.
- Prohibit unauthorized use of any individual’s land, building, etc., without his permission for political purposes.
- All Political parties and candidates restrict unnecessary crowds near polling booths.
General Conduct:
No candidate shall indulge in any activities that aggravates communal, caste religious or linguistic differences. No appeal for votes should be made based on Caste or religion.
Criticism of the opposition should be limited to policies, programmes past record and work. The personal life of any leaders shall not be targeted.
Criticism based on unverified allegations or distortions must be avoided.
No religious site such as a Mosque, Church, Temple or Gurudwara shall be used for election propaganda.
All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are “corrupt practices” and offences under the election law, such as bribery, intimidation etc.
The right of every individual for peaceful and undisturbed home-life shall be respected, however much the political parties or candidates may resent his political opinions or activities.
No political party or candidate shall permit its or his followers to make use of any individual’s land, building, compound wall etc., without his/her permission
Political parties and candidates shall ensure that their supporters do not create obstructions in or break up meetings and processions organized by other parties.
Meetings
The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the venue and time any proposed meeting Well in time so as to enable the police to make necessary arrangements.
A Party or candidate shall ascertain in advance if there is any restrictive or prohibitory order in force in the place proposed for the meeting. If such orders exist, they shall be followed strictly.
If permission or license is to be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any other facility in connection with any proposed meeting, the party or candidate shall apply to the authority concerned well in advance.
Organizers of a meeting seek the assistance of the police on duty for dealing with persons disturbing a meeting or otherwise attempting to create disorder.
Procession:
A Party or candidate organizing a procession shall decide the details of the procession well before time.
The organizers shall give advance intimation to the local police authorities of the programme.
The organizers shall ascertain if any restrictive orders are in force in the localities through which the procession has to pass.
The organizers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the procession so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic.
Polling Day
All Political parties and candidates shall –
- co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly polling and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without being subjected to any annoyance or obstruction.
- supply to their authorized workers suitable badges or identity cards.
- agree that the identity slip supplied by them to voters hall be on plain (white) paper and shall not contain any symbol, name of the candidate or the name of the party;
- refrain from serving or distributing liquor on polling day and during the forty eight hours preceding it.
- not allow unnecessary crowd to be collected near the camps set up by the political parties and candidates near the polling booths so as to avoid Confrontation and tension among workers and sympathizers of the parties and the candidate.
- ensure that the candidate’s camps shall be simple .They shall not display any posters, flags, symbols or any other propaganda material. No eatable shall be served or crowd allowed at the camps and
- co-operate with the authorities in complying with the restrictions to be imposed on the plying of vehicles on the polling day and obtain permits for them which should be displayed prominently on those vehicles.
Polling Booth
The Election Commission is appointing Observers. If the candidates or their agents have any specific complaint or problem regarding the conduct of elections they may bring the same to the notice of the Observer.
Party in Power
The party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States concerned, shall ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign and in particular –
The Ministers shall not combine their official visit with electioneering work and shall not also make use of official machinery or personnel during the electioneering work.
(b) Government transport including official air-crafts, vehicles, machinery and personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power;
Public places such as maidens etc., for holding election meetings, and use of helipads for air-flights in connection with elections shall not be monopolized by itself. Other parties and candidates shall be allowed the use of such places and facilities on the same terms and conditions on which they are used by the party in power;
Rest houses, dak bungalows or other Government accommodation shall not be monopolized by the party in power or its candidates and such accommodation shall be allowed to be used by other parties and candidates in a fair manner but no party or candidate shall use or be allowed to use such accommodation (including premises appertaining thereto) as a campaign office or for holding any public meeting for the purposes of election propaganda;
Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided.
Ministers and other authorities shall not sanction grants/payments out of discretionary funds from the time elections are announced by the Commission; and
Since the elections dates are announced by the Election Commission, the ministers and other officials shall not do the following tasks:
- Announce any financial grant or any new scheme or promise thereof.
- Make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities, etc.
- Lay foundation stones etc. of project or scheme of any kind (except civil servants).
- Make any ad-hoc appointments in government, public undertakings, etc.