IMPHAL, Aug 7 � The political parties in Manipur have suggested to the Election Commission to make the forthcoming Assembly election in the State a one-day affair.
The political parties made the suggestion to the three-member team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) which visited here yesterday on a one-day trip. The State is scheduled to go to the polls early next year.
The team led by election commissioner SY Quraishi held meetings with State political parties, besides meeting the State Government officials at the main conference hall of the State Secretariat.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Election Commissioner noted that his team had consultations with seven political parties of the State in order to include their suggestions.
He said that the political parties complained of rampant use of money and muscle powers during the last Assembly election and sought the deployment of paramilitary forces to rein in malpractices such as proxy voting, high expenditure, paid news, etc.
The Election Commissioner said that a committee will be appointed with a recommendation of Press Council of India (PCI) to oversee media contents like paid news, etc., and recommend action against the guilty party during the forthcoming Assembly election.
The visiting team also comprised Election Commissioners VS Sampath and HS Brahma, Deputy Election Commissioner JP Prakash and Alok Shukla and Director General Expenditure Monitoring PK Das.
