VIJAYAWADA: The district administration and police department are all set for effective monitoring of electioneering and implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), said NTR District Collector S Dilli Rao and Vijayawada Commissioner of Police Kanthi Rana Tata.
Addressing a joint press conference at the district collectorate here on Tuesday, the Collector made it clear that as per the directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), stern action would be taken against any violation of the MCC after 72 hours of election schedule announcement.
“Cases will be registered under sections 188 and 171H of IPC, Section 123 of Representation of People Act, 1951 and Prevention of Disfigurement of Open Places and Prohibition of Obscene and Objectionable Posters and Advertisement Act, 1997, and the violators will be imprisoned,” he explained.
Stating that political wall posters on the government office buildings across the district, including 2,192 village/Wward secretariats, tehsildar office and MPDO office, and at public places had been removed, the Collector informed that unauthorised political hoardings at private spaces are being removed. “A total of 10,693 photos, posters, and banners have been removed from public places and 1,777 walls of public edifices have been whitewashed,” he elaborated.
As many as 42 flying squads and 30 teams comprising MPDOs and municipal commissioners have been formed for the effective implementation of MCC, he said and added that a round-the-clock control room (0866-2570051) and dedicated WhatsApp number (9154970454) have been set up to receive any complaints related to MCC violations. Besides, a voter helpline (1950), and a National Service Portal are functioning to receive voter and election related complaints, he explained.
Briefing on ‘cVIGIL’ mobile application, the Collector appealed to the people to download and install the app to report and help authorities keep a tab on any malpractices during elections.
“The alert on the app will mobilise the flying squad teams immediately within five minutes. As of date, a total of 34 complaints have been received on the app since the announcement of the election schedule. There are also media certification and monitoring committees to monitor paid news and expenditure monitoring cells to observe the spending of the candidates. We will shortly set up a media centre for election-related issues,” he said.
Addressing the media, Vijayawada Commissioner of Police Kanthi Rana Tata said, “The police department is keenly monitoring the transportation of cash and liquor. Checkposts have been set up on inter-state and inter-district borders. The banks are directed to keep a watch on cashless transactions and sound alert in case of any discrepancies.” He further urged the people, especially businessmen, not to carry more than Rs 50,000 in cash.
Liquor worth Rs 1.25 crore seized
According to the Police Commissioner, from December 26, 2023 to March 18, 2024 a total of 35,992 litres of liquor valued at Rs 1.25 crore has been seized. During the same period, around 165.76 kg of ganja , valuable metals weighing 33.97 kg worth Rs 3,436 crore and Rs 4.19 crore cash were also seized, besides confiscating one car and two motorcycles. A total of 1,391 FIRs were registered by the police. The moment after the MCC came into force, the police have seized 465.92 litres of liquor worth Rs 1.9 lakh, 0.025 kg of ganja and unaccounted cash worth Rs 48,26,880.
Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) on its part has seized 37,841.71 litres of liquor worth Rs 1.16 crore besides recovering 5.5 kg of ganja. Out of a total of 443 licensed weapons in the district, 361 have been deposited with police, and the exemption was given to 80 others.