The office of the Chief Electoral Officer at the Secretariat now has a separate unit for receiving the complaints regarding the model code violations.
On Friday, CEO Praveen Kumar held detailed discussions with the leaders of all recognised political parties about the enforcement model code for the LS elections. The CEO made a power-point presentations before the leaders at the meeting and sought their views also.
Leaders questioned the rationale behind the EC’s decision to keep track of the amount spent by the candidates for their campaign from the last date of withdrawal of candidates - April 9. They said that already a couple of political parties have announced their candidates and even started campaigning. So, what about the expenditure incurred during this period, they wondered. Does that money go unaccounted, they asked.
The DMDK said since the State police was under the control of the State government, the election should be held in the presence of the Central Forces.
Aam Aadmi men kept out: Two volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party tried to attend the all-party meeting chaired by the CEO on Friday. But, they were not allowed, since it was stated that their party was not a recognised political party. The volunteers said the AAP would be contesting all the 40 constituencies and they have the right to attend the meeting. After creating a ruckus for sometime, the AAP volunteers walked out.