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EC’s
pill dampens parties but revives Tiruchi’s spirits
Express
News Sevice
Tiruchi,
April 29:
Tiruchi residents would be thankful to the Election Commission for
the tough election codes it has imposed on the district.
As a result,
political parties are thinking hard before taking any step for their
campaigns. The EC has put its foot down on the number of vehicles
candidates can use during filing of nominations, graffiti and decibel
levels.
Candidates
can now use only three vehicles when going to file nominations.
The EC move is a blow to political leaders who revel in holding
up traffic with their unwieldy convoys.
During the
Tiruchi by-polls last time, Independent candidates too held up traffic
on busy roads at peak hours. They explained their act away as the
best means to show off the support they enjoyed. Ultimately, most
forfeited their deposits.
At the announcement
of the polls, several residents feared the cacophony that roadside
meetings would create. Most parties blatantly used loudspeakers
though these had been banned.
But the poll
notification clarified that only box speakers should be used. The
decision came as a relief to the residents.
The EC also
tightened rules on defacement of walls of government and private
buildings. Election officials threatened the use of Disfigurement
of Public Property Act and the Indian Penal Code against political
parties who flouted the rule.
Most parties
would normally ‘reserve’ wall space with pencil or paint
marks. In the past, officials’ attempts to remove such marks
have triggered skirmishes.
The poll order
on graffiti came with the rider that all expenses for cleaning them
would be tagged to the candidate’s list of poll expenses. So
most Tiruchi city walls have gone unscathed this time.
The authorities
concerned too have stirred alive after district officials threatened
to punish department heads who failed to implement disciplinary
measures against poll graffiti.
House owners
here are happy because the rules now stipulate that along with the
owner’s signed permission, police permission too should be
sought before walls are used. Earlier, political parties would promise
to whitewash the graffiti once the polls were over and disappear
when the time came to do so.
The EC order
has also restricted public meetings between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. in
urban areas and 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. in rural areas.
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