NEW DELHI : The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday issued directions to all political parties to immediately cease enrolling voters for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes through advertisements, surveys and applications. The EC said such activities by political parties and their candidates amounted to bribery.
In its advisory to all national and state political parties, the EC said it has taken a “serious view” of some political parties and candidates reported to have been engaging in acts “that blur the lines between legitimate surveys and partisan efforts to register individuals for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes”.
The advisory said that inviting individual electors to register for post-election benefits may create the impression of a “one-to-one transactional relationship between the elector and the proposed benefit” and “has the potential to generate a quid pro quo arrangement for voting in a particular way, leading to inducement”.
Acknowledging that “generic and general electoral promises are in the realm of permissibility”, the EC noted that the activities mentioned in the advisory “obscure the distinction between authentic surveys and biased attempts to enroll people in programmes for political gain.”
The commission has also directed all District Election Officers to take appropriate actions against any such advertisements within the statutory provisions, namely Sections 127A and 123(1) of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, and Section 171 (B) of the Indian Penal Code.