Amidst allegations of money distribution amongst voters a day earlier than the Maharashtra State Meeting elections, employees of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) gheraoed BJP Common Secretary Vinod Tawde at a resort in Virar on Tuesday (November 19).
BVA and different political events have additionally spoken towards his presence within the constituency, citing violations of the Mannequin Code of Conduct. We clarify why.
What’s the allegation towards Vinod Tawde?
BVA chief Hitendra Thakur and spokespersons of different political events, together with the Indian Nationwide Congress, have taken subject with Tawde’s presence in Virar, a coastal metropolis in Maharashtra. Tawde informed reporters he visited the resort for an indoor assembly with occasion employees for the upcoming vote.
BJP’s nationwide spokespersons stated in a press convention in Delhi on Tuesday that Tawde was on the assembly because the occasion’s normal secretary, to watch and counter any violations by Opposition events on Wednesday.
What’s the Mannequin Code of Conduct provision that opposition events referred to?
The Election Fee of India points a Commonplace Working Process (SOP) for the 72 hours earlier than an election.
It states: “Throughout the course of marketing campaign in Common Election to Legislative Assemblies, the political events mobilize their supporters, together with from exterior the constituency of ballot, so as to bolster that marketing campaign. In view of the truth that after the closure of marketing campaign interval, no marketing campaign can happen throughout the constituency, presence of political functionary’s/occasion employees/procession-functionaries/ campaign-functionaries and so on., who’ve been introduced from exterior the constituency and who will not be voters of his/her constituency, mustn’t proceed to stay current within the constituency as their continued presence after marketing campaign ends might undermine the ambiance without cost and honest ballot.”
It additional says that the district election administration/police administration shall be certain that all such functionaries depart the constituency instantly after the campaigning interval is over. It provides that the restriction will not be insisted for the workplace bearer of the political occasion, who’s in-charge of the state. Such an workplace bearer ought to declare his place of keep within the state headquarters and his motion through the interval in query should stay confined usually between his occasion workplace and place of his keep, it provides.
The Fee has additional instructed the native administration to examine neighborhood halls and different locations the place such individuals could be housed, together with verification of lodges and guesthouses to trace their occupants. It additionally directed organising checkposts on the constituency borders and monitoring vehicular motion from exterior the constituency. These directions must be delivered to the discover of political events and candidates for compliance.
What has been performed thus far on this incident?
The Election Fee has filed an FIR towards Tawde and two different FIRs together with, one towards BVA employees. The FIR has been filed underneath sections of the Illustration of the Individuals Act and Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
