The Election Commission of India has issued new directives for all political parties along with the model code of conduct, an official statement said on Monday.
In the new directives which it has sent through the chief electoral officers of the states, the commission added guidelines for the parties especially on election manifesto after due consultation with political parties. The Commission has issued the new guidelines following a directive of the Supreme Court relating to a case in 2008. The court had asked the Commission to prepare a guideline in consultation with the political parties.
In its new guidelines issued on Feb 19 the Commission said it accepts the logical argument that the political parties have every right to issue their manifesto but some announcements in the manifesto sometimes may hinder the free and fair election. That is the reason why the Commission has issued the new guideline and asked the political parties to follow it.
According to the guideline, the manifesto should not have anything against the constitution and it should be strictly as per the provision laid down under the model code of conduct. The Commission said the political parties have rights to make promises on different welfare and developmental programmes but they should ensure that they are not making any promises which will affect the purity of the election or adversely affect the
electorates when they exercise their franchise. The election commission has said the political parties should ensure that the promises they were making were backed by financial data. They should not make any irrational promises which cannot be fulfilled.