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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Elected persons in govt not allowed as election agents of candidates: ECI

GANGTOK, 07 Apr: Election, Polling and counting agents are party cadre who are present at the polling booths and counting centres. They oversee the voting, ensure that the voter is authentic and the counting process is fair.
In this regard, the Election Commission of India has issued directives that no sitting Minister, MLA or any other elected person of a political party will be allowed to act as Election Agent, Polling agent or Counting agent of any candidate. This order was issued just a few days ago by the ECI.
In fact, this prohibition extends to sitting MPs, MLAs, Mayor, Chairperson of Municipality or Zilla Parishad and panchayats as well. Also prohibited from acting as such agents are any persons having security cover provided by the state. This, as per the ECI directive states, is to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election and to avoid any repercussions.
The ECI says that it is not desirable for any such persons mentioned above to be acting as any poll related agent from the point of view of maintaining the level playing field during elections. A large number of employees of local authorities such as a municipal corporation or nagar panchayat are deployed on election day and therefore it is not appropriate for such persons to act as agents for any candidate especially from the point of view of preventing undue influence on the election process.

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