Election Commission: The Election Commission is taking steps at every level to provide equal opportunities to all in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. In this regard, the Commission has issued guidelines to provide all parties with opportunities for campaigning.
Under the guidelines, every party, candidate, election-related organization, and individual must obtain approval from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee at the state and district levels appointed by the Commission before publishing any advertisement in print media on the day of voting and the day before. In view of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, these restrictions will apply to the first phase on November 5th and 6th and the second phase on November 10th and 11th.
Under the rules, applicants for pre-certification for political advertisements in print media must apply to the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee two days prior to the proposed date of publication. To facilitate timely pre-certification, Media Certification and Monitoring Committees at the state and district levels have been activated to scrutinize and pre-certify such advertisements, ensuring prompt decisions on advertisement publication.
Decision taken for transparent and fair elections
The Election Commission’s efforts are to ensure transparent and fair elections in the state, providing equal opportunities to all candidates. To this end, various steps have been taken to ensure equal opportunities for all political parties and candidates. To curb the influence of money and muscle power in elections, the Commission has already appointed observers in every assembly constituency to ensure expenditure and law and order.
The Election Commission is empowered to appoint observers to ensure fair elections under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Exercising this authority, the Commission has deployed 121 general observers and 18 police observers for the first phase of elections, and 20 police observers and 122 general observers for the second phase. The purpose of appointing observers is to ensure strict adherence to the Election Commission’s guidelines and to prevent administrative abuses.
