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The Election Commission is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. The Commission has a separate Secretariat located at New Delhi.Read more

A candidate or their agents cannot cannot ply voters to the polling station i.e. provide conveyance to voters to or from a polling station on voting day. This punishment for doing this is a fine of up to Rs. 500. 1 For example, a party or a candidate cannot hire a bus and give ridesRead more

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.Read more

Government advertisements usually inform the public of their rights, duties and entitlements and also explain government policies, programmes, services and initiatives. In order to prevent achieve this purpose, government advertisements should be objective, politically neutral and should not promote the political interest of the ruling party. For example, while advertising the mid-day meal scheme offeredRead more

Political parties and candidates are not allowed to use public properties/places for political advertisements. They cannot write on the walls, paste any posters/papers, erect/display any cutouts, hoardings, banners, flags etc as a part of election campaigning. Some examples of public properties are1: Railway stations, railway flyovers, bus stands, airports, bridges,Government hospitals, post offices,Government buildings, municipalRead more

The MCC applies to all social media platforms. There are five categories of social media that are regulated under the MCC1: Collaborative projects (like Wikipedia).Blogs and microblogs (like Twitter).Content communities (like YouTube).Social networking sites (like Facebook).Virtual Game worlds like (Gaming applications). There are some rules that have to be followed by political parties and candidatesRead more

Newspapers All print media including newspapers have to follow the rules under the MCC. The Press has a duty to1 : Be Objective Give only objective reports about elections and the candidates. Not any exaggerated reports. For example: The press cannot publish any fake news about a candidate’s election campaign. Not Spread Hatred Refrain fromRead more

Radios are also a medium for advertising by political parties and candidates and the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee(MCMC) in every district and state monitors all radio activity. They monitor the radio jingles of all political parties being transmitted on the FM channels so as to take appropriate steps to ascertain whether they are violatingRead more

Television broadcasts on elections must be on general events which are relevant and of common interest to the country, without supporting or criticizing and mocking any other candidate or political party. It is then it is not a violation of the MCC. Some examples are1: If there is a live telecast of a cricket match,Read more

The content of posters, billboards and hoardings can display general information like family planning, social welfare schemes, etc. but they cannot display the achievements of political parties, photos of politicians and party symbols during campaigning. 1 No political party or candidate can use your land, building or compound wall without your permission to erect billboards,Read more

Advertising which is in the nature of political propaganda or pursues a political agenda, is known as political advertising. Political advertising is allowed, but regulated by the MCC. If political parties or candidates misuse advertisements to further their prospects in the elections, they are violating the MCC. The MCC prohibits candidates and political parties fromRead more

The political parties or candidates are not allowed to use public places like maidans, helipads, etc for holding public meetings. For this purpose, political parties and candidates are allowed to use public or government-owned spaces such as playgrounds of schools, colleges and other educational institutions or other such public properties, provided that1: Academic calendar ofRead more

One cannot use defence forces for campaigning purposes i.e. no political party or candidate should use the photographs of any defence forces or army staff during their campaign. Their photographs or functions cannot be mentioned in advertisements. 1 Some examples of violations of MCC by using armed forces for campaigning are: If a candidate campaigns byRead more

A party or candidate cannot campaign in any manner which would result in creating tension or hatred between different castes and religious communities. The MCC does not allow anyone or any organization to use religion to further the prospects of a candidate or a political party during an election, irrespective of their relationship to theRead more

There are many practices during an election campaign that candidates are not supposed to do, which count as unfair election practices by the candidates, such as1: Using official vehicles without permission.Booth capturing.Using the help of gazetted officers, stipendiary judges and magistrates, members of the armed forces, members of police forces, excise officers, revenue officers (otherRead more

Candidates while campaigning have a duty to1: Not Spread Hatred Candidates should not promote or attempt to promote any feelings of enmity or hatred in the name of religion, race, caste, community, language, etc. by a candidate or a political party. **For example**, if a candidate while campaigning asks the Hindu community to vote forRead more

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 forRead more

There are certain effects of violation of MCC. If a person violates the MCC rules, they cannot be punished, except in certain cases where the MCC violation is also a crime under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951. For the violation of those crimes, one might even goRead more

The MCC covers1:  Political parties,Candidates,Organizations,Committees,Corporations, andCommissions funded wholly or partially by the central or the state government. Example: Electricity Regulatory Commissions, Jal Boards, Transport Corporations, etc. Heading 3.5, Manual for Model Code of Conduct, Election Commission, available at https://eci.gov.in/files/file/9375-manual-on-model-code-of-conduct[↩]Read more

The MCC applies when elections are going on. For the Lok Sabha elections MCC usually comes in force when the election schedule is announced by the Election Commission of India and till the results are announced in all the constituencies. 1 Heading 3.2, Manual for Model Code of Conduct, Election Commission, available at https://eci.gov.in/files/file/9375-manual-on-model-code-of-conduct[↩]Read more

The Model Code of Conduct (MCC)1 are rules and regulations which regulate the actions of the political parties, candidates, people supporting them, the civil servants during election time and anybody else who is associated with elections. It also regulates the actions of other individuals and organizations with the aim of making the elections as transparentRead more

Advertisements or sponsored programmes or reports which support or criticize a candidate with an intention to influence the election cannot be broadcasted on the television or the radio. If general events relating to a political party are broadcasted which does not influence the public in any manner then it can be broadcasted via TV orRead more