The Congress party has welcomed the announcement of the schedule of Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttarakhand. The Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay welcomed the Assembly poll announcement while also stating that the Congress will diligently observe the model code of conduct for the elections.
In a statement issued to the media after announcement of the Vidhan Sabha election schedule, the PCC chief stressed that the party will fully observe the directions of the Election Commission of India in observing the model code of conduct for the Vidhan Sabha election.
At the same time, he said that he expressed his expectation from the election commission regarding proper conduct of the Vidhan Sabha elections.
The election process should be facilitated in line with the Dev Bhoomi image of the state with there being no use of unethical means for electoral gains, said Upadhyay. “Some days ago when the Election Commission of India had come to Uttarakhand, the PCC had suggested that considering the weather and geographical aspects of Uttarakhand, it would have been good if polling was conducted in the last stage in Uttarakhand. This would mitigate difficulties for polling parties deputed to remote mountainous regions while also maximising the polling,” he said.
Upadhyay further opined that the manner in which the trend of using “improper means” to influence the voter during the election time had become dominant in the state, it was “akin to a stain on Dev Bhoomi”. The PCC president stated, “Our party clearly believes that concrete steps should be taken to completely prohibit the use of unfair means during the elections.”