Taking serious note of the plummeting level of the discourse during the campaigning ahead of the May 10 polls in Karnataka, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued an advisory to all state and national parties and their candidates to exercise caution and restraint in their utterances and not vitiate the election atmosphere.
The comment came after instances of use of “inappropriate vocabulary and language during the on-going campaign by persons, in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of star campaigner", the poll body said.
The Commission noted that national parties and star campaigners enjoy extra enablements within the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
“Such instances have occasioned various complaints, cross complaints and have also attracted negative media attention," the ECI said in a statement.
‘RAISE ISSUE-BASED DEBATES, STICK TO MODEL CODE, LEGAL FRAMEWORK’
In its advisory, the poll body urged parties to raise issue-based debates and remain within the confines of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the legal framework.
“It is imperative for all parties and stakeholders to remain within the confines of the Model Code of Conduct and the legal framework in their utterances while campaigning so as to maintain the dignity of the political discourse and not to vitiate the campaign and the election atmosphere. They are thus expected to contribute in maintaining and raising the level of discourse to issue-based debates, provide pan-India perspective, depth to the local discourse and to reassure all sections of electors to participate fully and fearlessly in a free and fair election," the advisory states.
The ECI, in the advisory, has also invited the attention of the political parties to the provisions of Model Code of Conduct and other statutory provisions which hold the field and fix the framework of the expected campaign discourse.
The poll body noted that as per the MCC provisions, use of provocative and inflammatory statements, use of intemperate and abusive language transgressing the limits of decency and attacks on the personal character and conduct of political rivals vitiate the level-playing field.
“The spirit of the MCC is not just avoidance of a direct violation, it also prohibits attempts to vitiate the electoral space through suggestive or indirect statements or innuendoes," it added.
“The Commission, in collaboration and consultation with all stakeholders, in particular, the political parties and the candidates, has invested efforts in encouraging all stakeholders to maintain a level of political discourse during campaigning which is befitting the widespread admiration and standing of Indian democracy worldwide," the ECI added in the statement.
The Commission has directed CEOs to ensure widest publicity of this advisory and compliance thereof, failing which appropriate action must be initiated as per extant regulatory and legal framework.
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