Agartala (Tripura): The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tripura on Thursday has issued show-cause notices to the Congress and the BJP for urging the people through tweets to vote in their favour after the Model Code of Conduct has come into force.
The CEO's office in its notice to bother parties pointed out that as per Section 126 (1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus in polling area during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area is prohibited.
The notice to Congress states that the party from its Twitter handle "Tripura Congress" has tweeted on February 16 stating " under "People of Tripura spontaneously casting vote for Congress. This time Congress will come."
It further states that the tweet by Congress has been taken as a violation of Section 126 (1) (b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and asks the party to provide an explanation. "Therefore, an opportunity is provided to you to take corrective action at the earliest and explain your stand for the said violation. Your explanation must reach to the undersigned by 5:00 PM on 17.02.2023," stated the notice.
As for the tweet by the BJP, the notice states " an appeal for vote in favour of BJP has been tweeted from BJP handle at 0800 hours on 16.02.2023 hours. The tweet followed by a video clip is as under " For a safe and brighter future, vote for BJP. Whereas, it has been taken as a violation of Section 126 of the Representation of People's Act,1951." The CEO's office also asked the BJP to submit its explanation by 5 pm on February 17, 2023.
