Theme: Campaigning & Elections

There is a certain conduct that candidates must follow while campaigning. All political parties and candidates should avoid activities that affect the voters and other candidates such as¹:

Actions against Voters

• Bribes: Bribing voters to vote for or not vote for a candidate or party. For example: Giving a voter a television to vote for a candidate.
• Threats: Threatening voters that there will be consequences for not voting for a certain party/candidate.
• Inducing Voters: Trying to make anyone believe that they will be subject to any godly punishment if they do not follow the instructions of the candidate.
• Impersonation of Voters: Impersonation of voters to cast illegal votes.

Actions against Candidates

• Threats to Other Candidates: Threatening any other candidate or voter with injury or any kind of social ostracism, ex-communication or expulsion from any caste or community.
• Personal Attacks: While criticising other candidates and political parties, candidates must restrict their comments to policies, programmes, past records and works of other parties and candidates. They should not criticise or comment on the private lives of other candidates, political parties or their workers. Criticism based on unverified reports should also be avoided at all costs.

1. Manual for Model Code of Conduct, Election Commission, available at https://eci.gov.in/files/file/9375-manual-on-model-code-of-conduct [↩]

The use of any official vehicles for campaigning or election-related travel from the date of announcement of elections till the completion of elections is not allowed.¹

But, if a political leader is under threat of extremist and terrorist activities and requires security, they can request the Election Commission for the use of an official vehicle.

What are Official Vehicles?

Official vehicles are those vehicles that belong to the following²:

• Central/State government,
• Public Undertakings/Joint Sector Undertakings of central and state governments,
• Local bodies, Panchayats, Municipal Corporations, Cooperative Societies, Marketing boards,
• Autonomous district councils in which public funds are invested,
• Ministry of Defence and other Ministers.

The different kinds of official vehicles are helicopters, aircraft, cars, jeeps, automobiles, boats, hovercrafts, trucks, lorries, tempos, cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, buses, etc.

1. Section 123(5) and Section 160, Representation of the People Act, 1951. [↩]
2. FAQs, Election Commission of India, available at https://eci.gov.in/faqs/. [↩]