India
Telangana Election Commission receives 5,291 complaints of Model Code of Conduct, through C-Vigil applications. 3,703 prove to be authentic.
Telangana: The chief electoral officer for Telangana, Rajat Kumar, on Monday said that the commission has received 5,291 complaints through the C-Vigil application that was operational in the state from November 7. The application was released by the Election Commission of India (ECI). In his statement, released on Monday, Kumar said that 3,703 complaints of the total have been proven to be true cases and 16 types of violations have been identified. These include distribution of cash, liquor, and seizure of gold, silver, ganja, gutka and tobacco. They also include political advertisements and paid news. Overall, 1,395 cases were dropped in all categories and 188 were pending. 2,120 cases have been resolved.
C-Vigil stands for citizen vigil and is operant in the state when Model Code of Conduct is applied or elections are announced. Citizens can report misconduct on the part of an electoral candidate or their supporters, by providing a proof along with the complaint. The proof can be in the form of a video or photograph that is geo-tagged. The identity of the citizen is kept anonymous to avoid later confrontations. If the complainants do not wish to hide their identity, then the Election Commission will do a follow up with them on the actions taken by them.
Out of the 5,291 complaints, 2,210 were regarding pasting or displaying poster or banners without permission. In this, 1,829 complaints were found to be authentic and suitable action was taken against the same. 284 of the complaints were dropped and 95 are pending. The commission is working towards eliminating these, said Kumar.
141 cases of property defacement were found and 103 of them have been rectified. 33 cases have been dropped and 3 of them are pending.
The commission received around 96 complaints, which were on transportation for rallies. In these, 65 have been rectified, 30 of these cases were dropped and one is pending.
Posters and pictures of leaders holding guns and swords had 67 complaints. 43 of these were acted on. 19 of these were dropped and 5 are pending.
Complaints on alleged distribution of gifts and coupons were 111. In these, 44 were resolved and 67 were dropped. There are no pending cases.
112 complaints of liquor distribution and 182 complaints of cash distribution were reported. The commission has taken action against 54 of liquor distribution cases and 57 of them were dropped. There is one pending case. 41 reports of cash distribution were found to be true and 137 were dropped. There are four pending cases under this category.
Complaints were even reported on the communal speeches delivered. 43 of these cases were registered as religious or communal speeches and messages. Of these, 22 were found to be genuine and have been rectified. There are no pending cases in this category.
Violations regarding campaigning timings were brought to light. 41 complaints were raised on campaigning from 10 PM to 6 AM and 26 of them were acted on. 13 of these complaints were dropped and 2 are pending.
116 cases indicated paid news in media. 52 of these cases were resolved while 56 of them have been dropped. 8 of these cases are pending.
Apart from complaints through C-Vigil, a selected unit of the election commission monitors news channels directly under CEO, Kumar, since October 19 to keep a check on MCC violations. They examine content on news television channels, round the clock, to track political motivations in news.
While addressing the press on Monday, Kumar said that the unit keeps track of 22 news channels in Telugu, 5 in Urdu and 2 in English. They create daily reports on the MCC violations, supported with videos. After generating the reports, these are sent to the District Election Officers for suitable action against the channels or candidates or parties. A copy of the same is sent to the state Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) for record.
The Telangana Assembly elections will take place on December 7.
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