All-party meet to evolve consensus on poll-code today

In 1997, the National Front government moved the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement, contending that the code should become effective when the polls are notified. The present government has continued to maintain the special leave petition in the apex court.

Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill, expressing optimism that tomorrow8217;s meeting would help thrash out a consensus, has observed that the model code of conduct was not evolved by the Commission unilaterally.

The code was the result of a consensus of all political parties to ensure a level-playing field for them. Its implementation was necessary for the conduct of free and fair elections and to ensure that no political party, particularly the party in power, gets an unfair advantage by virtue of its being in power at the time of election, he said.

The all-party meeting is to be attended by senior leaders of major national and state parties. While the code of conduct is the major issue on which the meeting has been convened, any other subject raised by a party could also be discussed, commission sources said.