PANJIM: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ramesh Verma, IAS, on Tuesday appealed to representatives of political parties to adhere to Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines during the campaign process for the forthcoming general election to Lok Sabha 2024 and urged them not to give any chance to initiate action against any violation.
During the course of deliberations, concerned nodal officer gave detailed presentation and brief on Election Expenditure Monitoring, Complaint Monitoring, Model Code of Conduct, Suvidha App, e-roll, Law and Order and facilities on Postal Ballot.
The CEO said his office has geared-up its machinery to ensure conduct of Lok Sabha elections to be desired standards, free and fair manner and sought cooperation from all the political parties to remain vigilant while campaigning as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.
Verma informed that control rooms are setup 24X7 and made operational at various places in the State.
The CEO requested all the political parties to take necessary permission to do campaigning like holding public meetings, posters, banners, release of advertisement in print or electronic media.
If any such violation is observed, strict action will be initiated, he said.
He said a visible and rigorous enforcement of Model Code of Conduct enhances the credibility of the electors and gives confidence to the voters.
The CEO mentioned that this time the ECI has also provided various facilities like Postal Ballot to the absentee voters like Person with Disabilities (PwDs), senior citizen in the age group of 85+ years and for Covid 19 suspected persons. The voting by postal ballot has to be completed at least one day before the poll day, he said.
Sangeeta Naik, Nodal Officer briefed expenditure monitoring and source of complaint and informed that ECI will keep vigil through various sources and enforcement agencies. The representatives of political parties who attended the meeting were Pundalik Raut Desai of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Savio de Souza, general secretary of Congress Party, Sandeep Vernekar from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Durgadas Kamat, Vice President of Goa Forward Party, Errol Pires from Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) and Ajay Kholkar from Revolutionary Goan Party (RGP).
