Navin Chawla


Guwahati, Mar 25 : Election Commissioner Navin Chawla said on Tuesday that the Commission had told all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of Assam and Meghalaya that there should be zero tolerance to violation of the model code of conduct.

Mr. Chawla asked the DCs and SPs of Assam to hire as many video cameras as possible to keep track of the movement of candidates and keep the footage in safe custody. Meghalaya, he said, had around 800 video cameras.

He told a press conference that the full Commission would hear a complaint on Thursday that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi violated the model code of conduct.

The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Assam United Democratic Front, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India lodged the complaint with the Election Commissioner that Mr. Gogoi admitted at a press conference that he received donations in cheque from a tea lobby during a visit to Kolkata.

Mr. Chawla said the 2009 Lok Sabha polls would be “micromanaged elections” and the Commission would ensure that the last voter was in a position to exercise his franchise in a free and fair manner. He announced that for the first time micro-observers would be deployed in Assam.

He said the heads of families in Assam would be required to come together with his or her family members at the time of voting and produce one of the documents notified by the Commission, as neither the electors’ photo identity cards (epic) nor the photo electoral rolls would be used.

Responding to a question, Mr. Chawla said there were about 1,56,000 D (“doubtful”) category voters in Assam, who would not be allowed to cast their votes as in the previous elections. The names of these voters have been referred to Foreigners’ Tribunals for ascertaining their citizenship status.