NEW DELHI: The State Election Commission on Tuesday released the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) guidelines for elections to the three municipal corporations in Delhi scheduled in April. The MCC, 2022, shall come into effect soon after the dates of elections are announced. Besides following Covid-19 protocols, the guidelines this time come with a number of restrictions for candidates including more emphasis on virtual campaigning, among other stipulations.
According to officials in the election commission, the dates shall be announced shortly, after which the MCC shall come into effect. “The schedule of the elections may come by next week,” said an official, who didn’t wish to be named.
The guidelines state that rallies and meetings “shall be allowed only in earmarked places” and with “prior permissions of the district administration”. It added that between “no rallies and public meetings (akin to campaign curfew) shall be allowed on any campaign day between 8 pm and 8 am”.
“Nukkad sabhas (street meeting) will not be allowed on public roads, roundabouts or public streets or corners…Political parties and candidates are advised to conduct their campaign as much as possible through digital/virtual media platforms, in mobile-based mode, instead of physical mode ensuring strict compliance of Covid safety norms,” it said.
Also, this time, only a maximum of five persons shall be allowed for door-to-door campaigning, which is excluding the security personnel. “The convoy of vehicles shall be broken after every five vehicles and the interval between two sets of convoys of vehicles should be half-an-hour instead of a gap of 100 metres. During the permitted campaign period, convoy of vehicles will be allowed only for the movement of vehicles from one point to another point for campaigning,” the guidelines stated.
The MCC will also require candidates, party workers, political parties and voters to abide Covid appropriate behaviour at all times. The commission has stated that with respect to road shows, physical rallies, pad-yatras, cycle/bike/vehicle rallies and taking out processions, it will “review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly.”
Elections to the three municipal corporations in Delhi — North, South and East — are due in April. There are a total of 272 municipal wards across the national capital, of which 104 each fall under the North and South corporations, while 64 are under the East civic body.