Cuddalore Collector chairs meeting with owners of printing press, marriage halls and pawn shops

District Election Officer and Collector Sibi Adhithya Senthil Kumar on Wednesday instructed stakeholders to strictly adhere to the Election Commission of India’s guidelines, and emphasised that any bulk distribution of gifts, suspicious financial transactions, printing of objectionable material, or unusual bulk purchases, must be reported to election authorities without delay.

Charing a meeting with owners of marriage halls, lodges, printing presses and pawn shops at the Collectorate on the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the upcoming Assembly elections, he said the focus was on ensuring free, fair and transparent conduct of elections in the district.

The owners of marriage halls and meeting halls were instructed to submit details of events conducted on their premises along with copies of invitations to the Assistant Returning Officer on a daily basis. Under no circumstances should the venue be let out for distributing gift items to voters.

The DEO said that organising community feasts by political parties is strictly prohibited. If political meetings are to be conducted, permission should be granted only after verifying the requisite authorisation letter obtained from the Election Officer, he said.

For any leaflets, posters or election advertisements printed by press owners, the name and address of the printing press should be clearly displayed. A copy of the poster or the pamphlet should be submitted with the District Electoral Officer. Pawnshops were instructed to properly maintain records which should be submitted to authorities on request, the DEO added.