Man breaches EC's poll schedule press conference, raises questions on proceedings

With the announcement of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, the Model Code of Conduct came into force.

In an unexpected turn of events, the Election Commission of India's (ECI) press conference on announcing the Lok Sabha elections 2024 schedule was briefly interrupted after a man who was not from the press began questioning the Commission's proceedings.

An individual who was not a press member began questioning the poll body officials. (X/ @ANI)

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As per the visuals shared by ANI, in the press conference, which was exclusively for journalists, an individual named Professor DS Agarwal, who introduced himself as a nominee of ex-President Pranab Mukherjee in 2012, questioned that the voter should be the proposer instead of an MP.

He also questioned the powers given to a District magistrate (DM) of a constituency, who is also the Returning Officer (RO), to cancel or approve the nomination of any candidate willing to contest the election. He also urged the poll body to make an amendment to prevent such people who are biased from participating in the activity.

The poll body later led away the man from the press conference. Though it has not issued any statements regarding the incident.

Read here: EC's poll date announcement shows 544 seats instead of 543. Is it an error?

Meanwhile, the poll body announced that the much-awaited Lok Sabha elections for the 543 constituencies will be held in seven phases, starting April 19 and would culminate on June 1. The counting of votes will be done on June 4. The phase 1 polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, third phase on May 7, fourth phase on May 13, 5th phase on May 20, 6th phase on May 25 and the last and the 7th phase on June 1.

The poll body further said will use a two-pronged strategy to deal with misinformation and fake narratives on social media during the Lok Sabha polls, with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar asserting that the poll body will "join the issue" to provide the correct picture to voters.

"Misinformation troubles us a lot during elections. We are conscious of two facts -- that social media helps us in our outreach programmes and there is freedom to criticise anybody in a democracy. But one cannot be allowed to create fake news, which is not based on facts because it can disturb public order," he said.

With the announcement of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, the Model Code of Conduct came into force, with CEC Kumar urging political parties to maintain decorum during campaigning.

He also advised the political parties against hate speeches, caste or religious appeals, criticism of any aspect of private life, masquerading of advertisements as news and social media posts vilifying or insulting rivals.

Read here: Election schedule to facilitate PM's campaign: Congress, TMC criticise 7-phase plan

"Pattern of past MCC (Model Code of Conduct) violations will prepare the ground for civilised campaigning during the Lok Sabha elections. There should be a responsibility on star campaigners for maintaining decorum," he said.

Responding to a question about allegations of bias in dealing with MCC violations during previous elections, the CEC said, "Wherever there will be a case of violation against anyone, however renowned the politician may be, we will not sit back. We will take action."

"Earlier, we used to morally censor but now we will take action," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)