Model Code of Conduct set to come into force soon after ECI announces election schedule
In a ‘most immediate’ memo, CEO Mukesh Kumar Meena lists the activities that need to be undertaken by the administrative machinery, says conduct of govt. servants should be impartial ‘Bankers play key role in monitoring contestants’ poll expenses’
As the Election Commission of India (ECI) is going to announce the schedule for the General Elections2024 at 3 p.m. on March 16 (Saturday), Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena has instructed the State administrative machinery to enforce the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) immediately after the announcement of the schedule.
In a “most immediate” memo on Friday to the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, all the Secretariat departments, heads of departments, district Collectors, Superintendents of Police, Commissioners of Police and others, Mr. Meena said that as per the ECI guidelines with respect to enforcement of the MCC after the announcement of the General Elections, certain activities needed to be taken up immediately by all concerned departments.
All wall writings, posters, papers, cutouts, hoardings, banners, flags and others on government property shall be removed within 24 hours after announcement of the elections, Mr. Meena said. All unauthorised political advertisements, including wall writings, posters, papers, hoardings, banners, flags and others at public property and in public space such as bus stands, railway stations, bridges, roadways, government buses, electric polls, municipal meetings shall be removed within 48 hours from the announcement.
All advertisements in the print and electronic media showing the achievements of the government at the cost of public exchequer shall be stopped forthwith after the announcement of elections.
All references to politicians, Ministers, political parties available on State government official websites and photographs of political functionaries shall be removed immediately on announcement of the elections.
All departments related to development and construction shall, within 72 hours of the announcement of elections, provide a list of works that had already started on ground and the fresh works that did not start.
There shall be a total ban on use of official vehicles by any Minister for electioneering. There shall be a total ban on transfer of all officers, officials concerned with the conduct of elections.
The photographs and images of political functionaries shall not be displayed on government buildings, including that of the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, the Ministers and other political functionaries.
There shall be a complete ban on videoconferencing between the Ministers and other political functionaries and officials individually or collectively after the announcement of the elections.
The electricity bills, water bills, boarding passes, vaccination certificates and others to be generated after the enforcement of
MCC should not contain any photographs or messages, symbols of political functionaries or parties.
The Ministers shall not be accommodated in the government guest houses while on election tours. The photographs of MPs, MLAs on mobile objects such as water tanks, ambulances and others funded under the MP LAD/MLA LAD, or other government schemes shall be covered.
All officers whose spouses are active in the political arena should not leave their headquarters either on leave or on tour till the elections were completed, except with the specific permission of the Chief Secretary.
The conduct of government servants should be impartial, and they should avoid any scope for suspicion that they were favouring any party or candidate.
Bankers in the State have been instructed to provide details of suspected financial transactions of individuals and institutions to the Election Commission and the IncomeTax Department.
CEO Mukesh Kumar Meena, at a meeting with bankers at the Secretariat at Velagapudi on Friday, asked nodal bank officers to provide data pertaining to accounts that had seen transactions worth more than ₹10 lakh on a single day from October 1, 2023 onwards. He also instructed the bankers to provide information about the accounts in which transactions amounting to over ₹50 lakh have been done within a 30day span.
Mr. Meena said the ECI had prescribed the expenditure limit as ₹40 lakh for an Assembly constituency and ₹95 lakh for a Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh. The CEO informed that the bankers would play a crucial role in monitoring the expenditure of the contesting candidates. He asked the bankers to provide details of transactions of more than ₹1 lakh pertaining to the contesting candidates, their relatives and political parties, from the date of announcing the Model Code of Conduct.