Madhya Pradesh elections: Event organisers under EC lens for breaking code of conduct

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently attended two back-to-back events as the state prepares for the assembly elections. And now, organisers of both the programmes have come under the Election Commission of India for not adhering to the code of conduct.

The first FIR has been lodged against Rajesh Tiwari of Raja Bhoj Ekal Abhiyan Samiti, organiser of Sant Samagam event held at Hindi Bhawan on October 22. In this event, Chouhan had shared the dais with self- styled godmen arriving from several parts of the state.

"After the scrutiny of the complaints, it was found permission was not taken to organise the event and several conditions related to the programme by the organisers were not met," Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said.

Another FIR has been lodged against BJP MLA (Bhopal Madhya Assembly seat) Surendra Nath Singh for not following the order of district magistrate during the organisation of Yuva Town Hall programme on Sunday.

The Chief Minister has attended the programme where several school students were in attendance, said a senior EC official.

Two senior IAS officers were also shunted in a gap of mere five days for not adhering to poll code of conduct.

The 2003 batch Indian Administrative Officer and Satna district collector Mukesh Kumar Shukla was removed following complaints of irregularities in the voters' list and for not taking inappropriate action BJP MP from Satna seat Ganesh Singh who inaugurating a flyover. 

Bhind Collector, a 2009 batch IAS officer Ashish Kumar was shunted following a series of complaints against him by Congress party, including the alleged inclusion of names of voters list from adjoining UP in the voters' list of Bhind district of MP.

One another elite officer who was shunted after the enforcement of model code of conduct is IPS officer Simla Prasad. The Congress has sought her removal from Rajgarh district where she was serving as Superintendent of Police. As she is the daughter of BJP MP from Bhind Dr Bhagirath Prasad.

Meanwhile, for the peaceful, fair and transparent election ensuring model code of conduct, the Election Commission of India has appointed observers for the Vidhan Sabha Election-2018.

A total of 360 observers have been posted in the state to conduct the elections, Rao added.

This includes 198 general observers, 35 police observers and 127 in the form of election expenses observers. In addition to this, 3 operative observers have also been posted by the Commission. Assembly elections will be held on 28 November to elect members of the 230 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. Counting will take place on December 11.