Gangtok, Oct 4th : (IPR) A coordination meeting with all the contesting candidates and their election agents was held at the chamber of Returning Officer, East today. The meeting was chaired by Returning Officer, Mr. Raj Yadav and were attended by General Observer for 24 Martam-Rumtek Mr. Susil Kumar Yadav, General Observer,27-Gangtok Mrs. Madhurima Baruah(Sen) and Expenditure Observer Mr Naresh Kumar Bansal,
SP (East), election officials and election agents.
The main objective of the meeting was to give information regarding upcoming By-Election and its process to all the political parties in their respective constituencies.
Returning Officer briefed in detailed about Model Code of Conduct- which is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for conducted of political parties and candidates during mainly with respect to speeches, polling day, polling booths, portfolios, election manifestos, processions and general conducted.
He informed about cVIGIL mobile Application- It is for the citizen to report any violation of the Model Code of Conduct during elections process. cVIGIL app is a user-friendly and easy to operate Android application. By using this app citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to the office of the returning office to lodge a complaint, RO added.
Expenditure Observer Mr Naresh Kumar Bansal, informed political parties about the election expenditure and its monitoring. The election expenditure has fixed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for each candidates and it is mandatory for every candidate to keep a separate and correct account of all expenditure incurred or authorized by the candidate or by his election agent, between the date on which he was nominated and the date of declaration of the result of election, both date inclusive. The total of the said expenditure shall not exceed such amount as may be prescribed under Section 77(3) of R.P.Act. 1951. Further he informed that Account Expenditure Inspection shall take place on 9th Oct, 14th Oct and 19th Oct for both two Constituencies at DAC.
Hosting of flags in vehicles and private properties, modification of vehicles for election campaign, rate chart of various items of election expenditure were also discussed.
There after Expenditure Observer and General Observers had a meeting with the meeting with the Nodal Officers, Accounting Team, Video Viewing Team (VVT), Video Surveillance Team (VST), Flying Squad Team (FST), Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) and the officials of Control Room here at the conference hall of District Administrative Center.
Expenditure Observer, Shri Naresh Kumar Bansal directed to all extended election teams to closely monitor unusual or doubtful activities especially while the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is enforced. He also exhorted them to coordinate with their counterparts and facilitate for the smooth conduct of Election.
Returning Officer briefed the Official from the Excise Department on the use and miss-use of liquor during elections, various possible MCC violations and the need to monitor expenditure. Further, he instructed to the FST, VST to remain more vigilant and urged officials to discharge their duties effectively to ensure successful, free and fair election.
