Election Commission directs political parties to stop enrolling voters for post-poll welfare schemes

The Election Commission on Thursday directed all political parties to stop enrolling voters for post-election welfare schemes under the “guise of surveys”.

The poll body said that some political parties and candidates have been engaging in activities that “blur the lines” between legitimate surveys and efforts to register voters for beneficiary schemes.

Enrolment of voters regarding prospective benefit schemes has also been done in the name of creating awareness about the existing schemes of the government or the party manifesto, the Election Commission said.

The letter to political parties cited instances where voters have been asked to register themselves for benefits by giving missed calls on a mobile phone or calling a telephone number through newspaper advertisements.

The Election Commission said it had also noted instances when forms have been distributed seeking details of voters, including their bank account number and constituency name, in the name of a socio-economic survey of prospective beneficiaries.

In view of this, it said that the act of calling upon individuals to register for post-election benefits “may create an impression of the requirement of one-to-one transactional relationship between the elector and the proposed benefit and has the potential to generate quid-pro-quo arrangement.”

The poll panel said that generic and general electoral promises are permitted, however such activities can obscure the distinction between authentic surveys and biased attempts to enroll voters in programs for political gain.

Asking political parties to stop such activities, the Election Commission directed district poll officers to take appropriate actions if they come across any such advertisements under Sections 127A and 123 (1) of the Representation of People’s Act and and Section 171 (B) of the Indian Penal Code.

Section 127A of the Representation of People’s Act deals with restrictions on the printing of pamphlets and posters, whereas section 123 (1) defines bribery for electors. Section 171 (B) of the Indian Penal Code deals with punishment for bribery.

BJP’s complaint to Election Commission

The advisory came weeks after the Bharatiya Janata Party approached the Election Commission urging it to stop the Congress’ “Ghar Ghar Guarantee” outreach programme, reported The Hindu.

In its memorandum to the poll panel, the BJP accused the Congress of corrupt practices amounting to bribery.

The ruling party in the Centre said that the initiative was kickstarted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on April 3 and that the Opposition party workers were distributing “guarantee cards” to households.

The memorandum said the Congress was presenting application papers to the voters for accessing the party’s promised benefits.

“To further confound the wrong, the cards bear the promissory signatures of prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress, namely Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, as an official endorsement,” the letter had said.

The BJP alleged that this was tantamount to manipulation of voters’ trust.

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