Prior nod must for political advts on electronic media: Nawanshahr District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner

Tribune News Service

Nawanshahr, January 10

District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal on Monday asked the political parties to take permission for running advertisements on electronic and social media, including the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms.

Accompanied by Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) Jasbir Singh and Additional Deputy Commissioner (UD) Amit Sareen, the Deputy Commissioner said all the candidates would have to furnish details of their social media handles. Besides, only pre-certified advertisements would be allowed to be flashed on social media.

He said all the expenditure on these advertisements would be counted as election spending. Similarly, all the pamphlets, posters and handbills must carry the name of the printer and the publisher, besides a number of printed copies and a declaration of the publisher must be submitted to the Returning Officer (RO) with all the information regarding this publication.

Further, the political hoardings, banners and posters on private buildings would need consent from the owners of private properties, he said, adding such lists must be submitted to Returning Officers (ROs). He asked them to strictly follow the instructions of not pasting any advertisement on government institutions.

He cautioned people to have valid documents if they wanted to carry cash above Rs 50,000, besides suspicious transactions above Rs 1 lakh must be reported to the district election office.

Sarangal held a detailed discussion with the representatives of different the political parties during which they assured them that the district administration was duty-bound to ensure a smooth and hassle-free polling process in Nawanshahr.

Seeking fulsome support and cooperation from the political parties for holding a free, fair and transparent and safe Assembly elections, he told them to strictly adhere to Covid-19 safety guidelines, including a ban on rallies, meetings and processions till January 15.

Sharing the details regarding various IT application introduced by Election Commission of India (ECI), he said a revolutionary C-Vigil app had been launched to enable the citizens to file a complaint against violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) or any corrupt practices.

He said all complaints registered on this android App would be resolved within 100 minutes. He said another IT App initiative, Suvidha, had been developed for the candidates, adding that it was single window for various permissions required during the elections.

He said the screening committee, media certification and monitoring committee, vehicle management teams, expenditure monitoring committee, Model Code of Conduct teams, video viewing teams and accounting teams had been constituted in the district to check the misuse of money power, liquor and narcotics.

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