Latest News on MCC for the general elections

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said on Monday the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the general elections should be strictly followed by the political parties and that March 15 was the last date for enrolment of voters, for which applications had to be submitted in Form-6.

He said applications in Form-7 for the deletion of voters received after March 10 would be examined only after the completion of the elections. The Forms-7 received prior to that would be scrutinised and deletions done.

At a meeting of representatives of political parties at his office in the Secretariat, Mr. Dwivedi said about 7.50 lakh applications were received in Form-7 and 5.50 lakh rejected. The supplementary rolls would be published on March 26.

He explained the rules on expenditure and other conditions to be followed by the candidates and dwelt on the dos and don’ts on the social media.

The CEO said the contestants should acquaint themselves with not only the expenditure part of the MCC but other provisions lest they should face action. The political parties should also tread cautiously in giving advertisements in print, electronic and social media keeping in view the penal action that paid news would attract. Due priority was given to the provision of security at all polling stations, particularly at critical locations, Mr. Dwivedi said.

Additional CEO Vivek Yadav and joint CEO D. Markandeyulu, Malladi Vishnu and Ch. Srinivasa Reddy from the YSR Congress Party, V. Satya Murthy from the BJP, Y. Venkateswara Rao and Y. Prabhakar from the CPI(M) and G. Obulesu of the CPI were among those present.

TDP absent

The TDP’s conspicuous absence at the all-party meeting raised eyebrows. Its leaders feigned ignorance of the reasons. National general secretary Nara Lokesh said they would meet the CEO on Tuesday. “Läck of communication, lost in translation. Tomorrow we will meet EC,” he said.