Chandigarh, October 23, 2016
Citing total politicisation of the state’s administrative and law and order machinery, the Punjab Congress has urged the Election Commission of India to immediately impose the Code of Conduct in Punjab if it wants to ensure some semblance of a free and fair election.
A Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) delegation, led by Vice President Dr. Amar Singh, met the EC team which is here on a 3-day visit to review the state’s preparedness for the Punjab assembly elections due early next year.
The EC team was led by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, along with the two Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti and Om Prakash Rawat. Apart from Dr. Amar Singh, the PPCC team comprised Gurdaspur district president Ashok Chaudhary and PPCC Office Secretary Kamal Deep Singh.
Conveying their apprehensions to the EC, the Congress leaders said it might not be possible to impose the Code of Conduct at all if it waited for the mandatory period to do so. They called for immediate imposition of the Code of Conduct if they wanted to bring the deteriorating political situation in the state under some control.
The PPCC delegation also sought sweeping administrative officers, from the level of the segment in-charge to the DCs, SSPs and SDMs to end the misuse of the state machinery by the Akali leadership.
They further demanded an independent third-party review and scrutiny of the voter lists, which had been prepared and revised by Anganwadi workers and were replete with bogus voter names.
Other issues of concern raised by the PPC leaders related to politicization of the media, as well as religious
Dr. Amar Singh, Vice President, Captain Sandeep Sandhu, Ashok Chaudhary district president and Kamal Deep Singh office secretary.