MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE GUIDANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE GUIDANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES
1. General Conduct
(1) No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate
existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different
castes and communities, religious or linguistic.
(2) Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their
policies and programme, past record and work. Parties and Candidates shall
refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public
activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or
their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.
(3) There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as
forum for election propaganda.
(4) All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are
“corrupt practices” and offences under the election law, such as bribing of voters,
intimidation of voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing within 100 meters of
polling stations, holding public meetings during the period of 48 hours ending
with the hour fixed for the close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of
voters to and from polling station.
(5)The right of every individual for peaceful and undisturbed home-life shall be
respected, however much the political parties or candidates may resent his political
opinions or activities. Organising demonstrations or picketing before the houses of
individuals by way of protesting against their opinions or activities shall not be
resorted to under any circumstances.
(6) No political party or candidate shall permit its or his followers to make use of
any individual’s land, building, compound wall etc., without his permission for
erecting flag-staffs, suspending banners, pasting notices, writing slogans etc.
(7) Political parties and candidates shall ensure that their supporters do not create obstructions in or break up meetings and processions organised by other parties. Workers or sympathisers of one political party shall not create disturbances at public meetings organised by another political party by putting questions orally or in writing or by distributing leaflets of their own party. Processions shall not be taken out by one party along places at which meetings are held by another party. Posters issued by one party shall not be removed by workers of another party.
II. Meetings
(1) The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the
venue and time any proposed meeting Well in time so as to enable the police to
make necessary arragements for controlling traffic and maintaining peace and
order.
(2) A Party or candidate shall ascertain in advance if there is any restrictive or
prohibitory order in force in the place proposed for the meeting if such orders
exist, they shall be followed strictly. If any exemption is required from such
orders, it shall be applied for and obtained well in time.
(3) If permission or license is to be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any
other facility in connection with any proposed meeting, the party or candidate
shall apply to the authority concerned well in advance and obtain such permission
or license.
(4) Organisers of a meeting shall invariably seek the assistance of the police on
duty for dealing with persons disturbing a meeting or otherwise attempting to
create disorder. Organisers themselves shall not take action against such persons.
III Procession
(1) A Party or candidate organizing a procession shall decide before hand the time
and place of the starting of the procession, the route to be followed and the time
and place at which the procession will terminate. There shall ordinary be on
deviation from the programme.
(2) The organisers shall give advance intimation to the local police authorities of
the programme so as to enable the letter to make necessary arrangement.
(3) The organisers shall ascertain if any restrictive orders are in force in the
localities through which the procession has to pass, and shall comply with the
restrictions unless exempted specially by the competent authority. Any traffic
regulations or restrictions shall also be carefully adhered to.
(4) The organisers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the
procession so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic. If the procession is very long, it shall be organised in segments of suitable lengths, so that at convenient intervals, especially at points where the procession has to pass road junctions, the passage of held up traffic could be allowed by stages thus avoiding heavy traffic congestion.
(5) Processions shall be so regulated as to keep as much to the right of the road as
possible and the direction and advice of the police on duty shall be strictly
complied with.
(6) If two or more political parties or candidates propose to take processions over
the same route or parts thereof at about the same time, the organisers shall
establish contact well in advance and decide upon the measures to be taken to see
that the processions do not clash or cause hindrance to traffic. The assistance of
the local police shall be availed of for arriving at a satisfactory arrangement. For
this purpose the parties shall contact the police at the earliest opportunity.
(7) The political parties or candidates shall exercise control to the maximum extent
possible in the matter of processionists carrying articles which may be put to
misuse by undesirable elements especially in moments of excitement.
(8) The carrying of effigies purporting to represent member of other political
parties or their leaders, burning such effigies in public and such other forms
demonstration shall not be countenanced by any political party or candidate.
IV. Polling Day
All Political parties and candidates shall –
(i) co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly
polling and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without
being subjected to any annoyance or obstruction.
(ii) supply to their authorized workers suitable badges or identity cards.
(iii) agree that the identity slip supplied by them to voters hall be on plain (white)
paper and shall not contain any symbol, name of the candidate or the name of the
party;
(iv) refrain from serving or distributing liquor on polling day and during the
fourty eight hours preceding it
(v) not allow unnecessary crowd to be collected near the camps set up by the
political parties and candidates near the polling booths so as to avoid
Confrontation and tension among workers and sympathizers of the parties and the
candidate.
(vi) ensure that the candidate’s camps shall be simple .The shall not
display any posters, flags, symbols or any other propaganda material. No eatable
shall be served or crowd allowed at the camps and
(vii) co-operate with the authorities in complying with the restrictions to be
imposed on the plying of vehicles on the polling day and obtain permits for them
which should be displayed prominently on those vehicles.
V. Polling Booth
Excepting the voters, no one without a valid pass from the Election
Commission shall enter the polling booths.
VI. Observers
The Election Commission is appointing Observers. If the candidates or
their agents have any specific complaint or problem regarding the conduct of
elections they may bring the same to the notice of the Observer.
VII. Party in Power
The party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States
concerned, shall ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its
official position for the purposes of its election campaign and in particular –
(i) (a) The Ministers shall not combine their official visit with electioneering work
and shall not also make use of official machinery or personnel during the
electioneering work.
(b) Government transport including official air-crafts, vehicles, machinery and
personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power;
(ii) Public places such as maidans etc., for holding election meetings, and use of
helipads for air-flights in connection with elections shall not be monopolized by
itself. Other parties and candidates shall be allowed the use of such places and
facilities on the same terms and conditions on which they are used by the party in
power;
(iii) Rest houses, dark bungalows or other Government accommodation shall not
be monopolized by the party in power or its candidates and such accommodation
shall be allowed to be used by other parties and candidates in a fair manner but no
party or candidate shall use or be allowed to use such accommodation (including
premises appertaining thereto) as a campaign office or for holding any public
meeting for the purposes of election propaganda;
(iv) Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and
other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for
partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a
view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously
avoided.
(v) Ministers and other authorities shall not sanction grants/payments out of
discretionary funds from the time elections are announced by the Commission;
and
(vi) From the time elections are announced by Commission, Ministers and other
authorities shall not –
(a) announce any financial grants in any form or promises thereof; or
(b) (except civil servants) lay foundation stones etc. of projects or schemes of any
kind; or
(c) make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water
facilities etc.; or
(d) make any ad-hoc appointments in Government, Public Undertakings
etc. which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the
party in power.
Note : The Commission shall announce the date of any election which shall be a
date ordinarily not more than three weeks prior to the date on which the
notification is likely to be issued in respect of such elections.
(vii) Ministers of Central or State Government shall not enter any polling station
or place of counting except in their capacity as a candidate or voter or authorised