NEW DELHI, Sept 2: The Election Commission today rejected a BJP demand to curtail the time period during which the model code of conduct stays in force and stated that the code would come into effect from the date of announcement of the poll schedule as usual.Deputy Election Commissioner Subas Pani in a letter to the Bharatiya Janata Party pointed out that the model code of conduct had been unanimously agreed to at the all-party meetings held prior to the 1996 and 1998 elections and had been endorsed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.More importantly, the model code of conduct itself clearly states that it comes into effect from the date of announcement of the poll schedule.BJP vice president K L Sharma had written to Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill earlier this week demanding that the time period be curtailed and that the model code of conduct be made applicable only after the date of notification for elections.Sharma said the implementation of the code from the date of announcement ofthe election programme was ``neither required by any law nor a practical proposition''. He suggested that the code be made applicable only for a period of 15 days.In his reply Pani said the text of the model code clearly mentions that the provisions will come into effect ``from the time the elections are announced by the Commission''.Besides, reducing the period to 15 days would defeat the very purpose for which the code was formulated, that is, to ensure conditions for a free and fair poll. Most political leaders had, during the all-party meetings, urged that the model code be in force for an ``adequate period'' before the election date to create an atmosphere conducive to the holding of polls.The BJP leader also urged the EC to make the electoral rolls available to the political parties well before the Assembly elections due in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram later this year.The EC, Pani said, had written to the Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of all the states asking them tocomplete this process at the earliest.The Commission was ``very much focused'' on making available ``clean printed copies of the electoral rolls'' and CD-ROMs of the complete rolls in good time for the election, Pani said in his written reply.The Commission however has chosen to remain silent on another matter raised by Sharma, which relates to the EC's recent suggestion that the Chief Ministers of the four states going to the polls resign before the polls are held to ensure neutrality of the administration during the polls.The BJP had contended that before making such suggestions ``on sensitive and vital issues'' the EC should take the political parties into confidence.
