Religious and public places cannot be used for political campaigns, propaganda: District Electoral Officer

Religious places and public places such as malls, cinema and marriage halls should not be allowed to be used for political campaigns and propaganda, said Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner and District Electoral Officer M.R. Ravi Kumar here on Saturday.

Religious places and public places such as malls, cinema and marriage halls should not be allowed to be used for political campaigns and propaganda, said Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner and District Electoral Officer M.R. Ravi Kumar here on Saturday.

In a series of meetings with returning officers, journalists, owners of petrol bunks, community halls and administrators of religious places, Mr. Kumar said people can go ahead with holding marriages, religious and other events at these places. “But these venues should not be allowed to be used for political campaign and propaganda. In case of violation, the party concerned, the organiser and other people will be booked under the provisions of Representation of Peoples Act,” he said.

If Yakshangana or other cultural programmes are used in an unauthorised way for campaigning, the organiser and the artists will be booked.

“We will not come in the way of conduct of marriages or other social programmes. If a political party or the candidate makes use these programmes to seek votes, then the party and the candidate concerned will be held accountable,” he said.

Zilla Panchayat CEO and model code of conduct nodal officer Kumara said all election-related printing and publishing of advertisements should be done with prior approval of the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC). Campaign-related scrolls on the news channels should also be vetted by the committee, he said.

He said banks were keeping a close watch on transactions and reporting every day about withdrawal of more than ₹10 lakh in a day or about multiple payments and other suspicious transactions.

Police Commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R. Jain said social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp should be used responsibly. “We are keeping a close watch of the posts. If any of the posts causes trouble, then creator of the posts will be booked,” he said.