Election Commission calls all-party meeting

The Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on October 4 to discuss issues related to the use of money and muscle power in elections and the criminalisation of politics. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said the commission has invited leaders from all political parties for the meeting on October 4.

The meeting will be held in two parts. In the morning, discussions will be done with leaders of national parties and in the evening, state level leaders will come for the meeting. The meeting is likely to discuss issues related to the use of money power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news. Matters related to the use of EVMs will also be discussed.

Quraishi had said while announcing the schedule of programmes of the Bihar assembly elections, "We are preparing to call an all party meeting, it will be held soon. The use of money and muscle power during elections, criminalisation of politics and paid news will be discussed among other issues. The issue of paid news should be seen in the context of use of money power in the elections. The commission has formed certain guidelines which will be applied in the upcoming elections in Bihar."

According to the survey done by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, the cases of murder, kidnapping among others have been registered against more than 100 legislators of the Bihar assembly.