Paid news to come under candidates’ poll expense

A special cell would be formed in the district collector’s office to monitor the media coverage. Newspapers and news channels would be scrutinised on the basis of guidelines issued by the State Election Commissioner. The administration has categorically stated that clarification would be sought from media houses regarding paid news and the expenses would be added to the election expenditure of the candidates.

Ahead of the bypolls,the model code of conduct has been called for the entire district. The district administration has already issued letters to elected representatives to surrender their official vehicles. Six vehicles of the Zilla Parishad,14 from the Pune Municipal Corporation and 21 from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation were surrendered.

Deputy election officer Apurva Wankhede said once the code of conduct is implemented,action will be taken against those violating it. The rule says each contestant can spend a maximum of Rs 16 lakh for the polls.The administration has also taken action against banners and hoardings in the district.

Nearly 128 hoardings and 320 banners have been removed. The code of conduct also maintains that all licenced weapon holders would be asked to surrender their weapons a week before the polling day. The administration has asked political parties to adhere to the expenditure limit as well as help in strict implementation of the model code of conduct. Haveli sub-divisional officer (SDO) Avinash Hadgal and Haveli tehshildar Sandesh Shirke have been appointed returning officer and deputy returning officers respectively.