588 hamlets have been marked out as vulnerable. Besides, 1,011 trouble mongers have been identified and 1,430 people have been bound down under various sections of CrPC by Superintendents of Police of 11 electoral districts. 15,240 arms out of 25,299 i.e. 58.65% of arms were deposited so far, said the CEO
TFM Desk
As many as 25 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) have arrived in Manipur which will go to poll in two phases on February 27 and March 3. They have been deployed in pre-election security management, said chief electoral officer, Manipur Rajesh Agarwal on Thursday. The state will get another 20 companies within this month, he added.
Briefing the media persons at CEO’s office in Lamphel, Rajesh Agarwal said ‘cVIGIL’- Mobile App has been activated. Multiple complaints were received related to defacement of government, public properties and unauthorized defacement in private property. A total of 54,321 cases of defacement have been detected and corrected, he added.
He also said that Control Rooms/Media certification and monitoring committee /Complaint Monitoring System have been activated in all districts. The Election Commission has collected a list of ongoing works and a list of works which have not started yet. Photographs of political functionaries have been removed from government websites, he added.
As many as 180 flying squads have been activated to attend complaints though ‘cVIGIL’- Mobile App
The chief electoral officer also said that 15 enforcement agencies are operating to ensure free and fair elections. They have opened their control rooms. In the last 11 days since the declaration enforcement of model code of conduct on January 8, a total of seizures worth around Rs 28 crore have been made. The seized items include 0.50 crore in cash, liquor worth Rs 0.1474961 cr, drugs worth 26.558 crore and others i.e. gold worth Rs 1.41 cr, he added.
Regarding preventive strategies to curb elected-related violence, the chief electoral officer said 588 hamlets have been identified as vulnerable. Besides, 1,011 trouble mongers have been identified and 1,430 people have been bound down under various sections of CrPC by Superintendents of Police of 11 electoral districts, he added.
He also informed that 15,240 out of 25,299 i.e. 58.65% of arms were deposited so far.
The CEO further said no road show, Pad-yatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till January 22, 2022. Indoor meeting is allowed with a maximum of 50 participants (as fixed by SDMA) and each political party/candidate shall furnish an undertaking in the application form (under Suvidha) that it shall abide by all the extant instructions/guidelines in this regard, he added.
He said between 8 pm and 8 am, no rallies and public meetings (akin to campaign curfew) shall be allowed on any campaign day. Nukkad Sabhas (meeting) will not be allowed on public roads, roundabouts or public streets or corners, he said.
The CEO advised political parties and candidates to conduct their campaign as much as possible through digital/virtual/ media platforms /mobile based mode instead of physical mode ensuring strict compliance of Covid safety norms.
He also said the Door-to-Door Campaign has been restricted to a maximum of 5 (five) persons, including candidate, excluding security personnel, if any. The convoy of vehicles shall be broken after every five vehicles and the interval between two sets of convoys of vehicles should be half an hour instead of gap of 100 meters.
The maximum number of star campaigners for recognized National/State political parties has been fixed 30 in place of 40, for unrecognised political parties 15 in place of 20. Request for permission for campaign by star campaigners may be given at least 48 hours before the start of campaign to make all necessary safety arrangements, he said
The CEO said no victory procession after the counting shall be allowed and no more than two persons shall be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his/her authorized representative to receive the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.
If a candidate or political party violates any of the above guidelines, no further permission shall be given to the concerned candidate/party for rallies, meetings etc. Election Agents/ Polling Agents/ Counting Agents without double dose vaccination shall not be allowed, said the CEO.