Nearly 100 Complaints Against Parties, Others For Poll Code Violation: Officials

As many as 97 FIRs and daily diary (DD) entries have been registered in Delhi till date against various political parties and others for violation of the model code of conduct in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi's chief electoral officer (CEO) said on Monday.

CEO Ranbir Singh also told reporters that a statistics surveillance team, constituted to keep an eye on the expenses of political parties, has seized Rs 51.97 lakh cash from outer Delhi and Dwarka.

"A total of 97 FIRs or DD entries have been lodged in connection with the violation of the model code of conduct. Out of these, 10 is against the Aam Aadmi Party (six FIRs and four DD entries), 10 against the Bhartiya Janata Party (seven FIRs and three DD entries), two against the Congress (both DD entries), one against the Bahujan Samaj Party (one DD entry), and 74 against others or non-political (entities)," the CEO office said in a statement.

Mr Singh also said social media is being aggressively monitored to check any violation of the poll code and experts are also assisting the election team.

The office of the Delhi CEO said more than 2.44 lakh posters, banners and hoardings have been removed since the poll code came into force.

"As many as 30,533 posters, banners and hoardings were removed from areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council, 43,075 from East Delhi Municipal Corporation areas, 2,411 from Delhi Cantonment Board, 81,967 from South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and 86,623 from North Delhi Municipal Corporation areas," the CEO Office said in a statement.

Police have registered 564 FIRs and arrested 560 people under the Excise Act, it said, adding, 191 FIRs have been registered under the Arms Act in which 229 people were arrested.

They have also seized 298 unlicensed arms and weapons, and 2,323 cartridges and explosives. As many as 40,965 people have been booked till date under various sections of the CrPC and the Delhi Police Act.

Special commissioner of police (elections), Praveer Ranjan said, details of cash seizure have been sent to the Income Tax department and a report is awaited.

"I-T department officials will analyse if the cash was meant for polling purposes or not," he told reporters.

The Delhi CEO office also said, as on date, 14 cases have been recorded for other category of violations, such as misuse of vehicles, violation of loudspeaker norms, illegal meetings and gratification of electors.

"Till date, 738 bottles, 67 half-sized bottles, 81,915 quarter-sized ones of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 475 bottles, 762 half-sized and 155458 quarter-sized ones of country liquor and 4,861 bottles of beer have been seized," it said.

The Lok Sabha being conducted in seven phases will begin on April 11 and continue till May 19. Delhi will vote on May 12 and the overall results will be declared on May 23.

There are over 1.4 crore voters on Delhi's electoral roll, out of which 2,04,420 are in the age group of 18-19, Mr Singh said, adding out of the total electorate size of 1,40,80,442, as many as 77,51,908 are male and 63,27,866 female, while 668 belong to third gender. The number of overseas electors stand at 40.

The CEO also appealed to people to apply soon to get themselves enrolled in voters list, saying April 13 would be the last date for receiving application.

As many as 13,816 polling stations would be set up in 2,696 locations with each Assembly constituency having a model polling station. According to latest assessment, there would be 433 critical polling stations, officials said.

Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats and 70 Assembly constituencies. The seven parliamentary seats are -- New Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, North-East Delhi, East Delhi, North-West Delhi (reserved for SC) and Chandni Chowk.

Informing reporters that each parliamentary constituency would have one Pink Booth (staffed only by women), Mr Singh said "As many as 45 localities have been identified where voters are vulnerable to influence, and pre-emptive actions are being planned."

As part of voter awareness campaign, the Election Commission and the railways have decided to utilise four long-distance trains to carry motivational messages for the electorate. The trains will display important contact details, including voter helpline number and the National Voters'' Services Portal address, besides motivational messages urging voters to exercise their franchise.

The Kerala Express was flagged off a couple of days ago from Delhi. Three other trains, the Himsagar Express, Howrah Express and Guwahati Express will also be flagged off soon as part of this campaign.