Punjab chief electoral officer holds meeting with deputy commissioners

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C on Saturday held a meeting with deputy commissioners-cum-district election officers and directed them to ensure effective implementation of the Model Code of Conduct for free and fair elections.

Polling for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, starting with 102 in the first phase on April 19. The votes will be counted on June 4.

In Punjab, polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats will be held on June 1.

The Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) instructed the officials to activate Model Code of Conduct (MCC) teams and immediately remove all violations in public and private places, according to an official release.

Shibin prescribed the officials to maintain a list of the ongoing works in their districts and get those certified by heads of departments such as the public works, local government, housing and urban development and irrigation, among others, and ensure that no other work is started without the Election Commission's permission.

It needs to be ensured that the Suvidha portal is working smoothly and permissions are given timely, he further said.

The Suvidha portal aims to facilitate the process of applying for permissions by political parties and candidates for conducting election-related activities.

Sibin also directed the officials to conduct meetings with all political parties and apprise them about the MCC guidelines.

He clarified that school grounds in Punjab cannot be used for political meetings.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)