NT NETWORK
PANAJI
With the Election Commission of India announcing the Goa assembly polls on February 4, and the election code of conduct coming into force, the state Chief Electoral Office issued directions to various government departments including the commercial tax and excise to comply with the guidelines of the Commission for ensuring free and fair election.
The state Chief Electoral Office has also scheduled the final publication of the revised electoral rolls for Goa on January 5.
State chief electoral officer Kunal, addressing a press conference on Wednesday, said that the land owning government departments like public works, forest and panchayat have been directed to immediately clear the defacement of properties done through election-related propaganda material by various political parties. “These departments have been told to remove such material from the government properties within 24 hours, from the public properties within 48 hours and from the private properties within 72 hours,” he added, pointing out that display of political advertisements at the paid sites on locations like airports, railway stations and even on electricity poles have been banned.
Speaking further, Kunal stated that an order has also been issued imposing ban on government vehicles for election campaigning. “The government vehicles cannot be used for anything else except for official government duties, including election-related duties,” he maintained, adding that there should also be no advertisements on the newspapers and other mass media regarding the achievements of the government.
The state chief electoral officer informed that the department of commercial tax has been asked to keep a watch on the extraordinary jump in the sales of popular consumer items such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines and so on, mainly those costing below Rs 5,000. “The department will also monitor the transactions of the big dealers of such goods,” he noted.
Kunal, further stated that the excise department has been instructed to monitor the taverns, bars and other such outlets in Goa for sale of liquor, especially by handing out liquor in exchange of chips, coupons and so on.
Coming out with the information that the 2017 state assembly election would witness addition of 40,000 new voters in the electoral exercise, Kunal said that Goa would be the first state in the country to be entirely covered by Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, during the assembly election. “We have already put up 50 teams in different places to spread awareness about such machines,” he added. Presently there are 1,642 polling stations around the state.
It was also told that more than 40 teams would be deployed in various electoral constituencies around Goa to handle poll-related complaints. “We expect these teams to reach the location, which is the focus of the complaint, in five-minute time by way of a dedicated vehicle, with live monitoring from the state chief electoral office,” he noted.
Replying to a question, the state chief electoral officer said that the Election Commission of India would soon issue detailed guidelines as regards the recent Supreme Court verdict banning appeal from any political party or candidate to the voters, for votes on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language.
When asked about the electoral process supporting digital monetary transactions, especially those linked to various fees and so on, Kunal said that the payments to the Election Commission of India are done through challans. “However, we are also keeping open other options such as demand drafts and cheques,” he replied.
When questioned as to whether the state Chief Electoral Office is expected to face strain during the election code of conduct period, for the forthcoming state assembly election, due to the substantial increase in the number of political parties as compared to 2012, Kunal concluded in a lighter vein, “We are practising our own de-stressing techniques.”