Referring to the sensational murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai, Chief Election Commissioner (ECE) Rajiv Kumar reassured during the Election Commission's briefing here on Tuesday that crimes with political overtones would form an absolute "no-go area" for the Commission.
Responding to a question without naming Maharashtra or the slain NCP leader, Kumar said that he was confident that the Commission will be able to prevent any form of political violence in the state that will dissuade voters.
Kumar said after the model code of conduct has been declared, the Election Commission of India or the ECI is looking to make it clear to the police authorities and civil authorities in the state, that is Maharashtra, that "violence of any kind and crime of this nature which has political overtones would be absolutely a no-go area for the Commission.".
"We are going to immediately issue strict instructions, we will direct everybody that any kind of violence or crime, especially against any political person, should not happen, should not repeat," he said.
"We haven't allowed it to happen in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, state after state and we are sure it will not happen," said the CEC.
On a related question concerning the issues brought before the NCP SP, Kumar said that the ECI had agreed to the party's request for the deletion of an election symbol that was causing confusion with its trumpet symbol.
"We have also accepted the new design for the election symbol suggested by the party," said Kumar.
The CEC observed that the laid down rules have permitted the party to resume accepting political donations.
Earlier, CEC has termed the use of artificial intelligence and deep-fakes as "very serious issues" which challenge free and fair elections.
"The AI-related nuisance is being controlled through our social media monitoring teams and police headquarters in states… in some cases, the content has been blocked, taken down or criminal action has been taken," said Kumar, assuring that ECI would take down objectionable content the day it crosses the red line.
The CEC announced the schedule of the elections to the Assemblies, briefing it further that Maharashtra will be voting in one phase on 20th November and Jharkhand in two phases on 13th and 20th November. Results in both the states would come out on 23rd November.
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