The State Election Commission (SEC) has clarified that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the local body elections is applicable only to the rural areas and not to the urban areas in the State.
State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar, in a statement on Saturday, said, “As per Para 3(A) of the Model Code of Conduct for the local body elections, when ordinary elections are notified to the rural local bodies in the entire State, the MCC is applicable only to the rural areas.”
He further clarified that there was no objection to organise programmes in the urban areas to extend benefits to the beneficiaries hailing from the urban areas alone.
“Programmes shall not be organised in the urban areas to extend benefits to the beneficiaries belonging to the rural areas. This will amount to violation of the MCC as such acts influence voter preferences,” Mr. Ramesh Kumar said.
The commission had announced on Friday the schedule for the conduct of the gram panchayat elections in the State.
As per the schedule, notification will be issued for the first phase of the elections on January 23. The elections will come to an end with with the polling for the fourth phase on February 17.
The MCC will be in force up to February 17 in compliance with the stipulation made by the Supreme Court in a judgment dated March 18, 2020, he added.
