Election Commission halts central govt’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in many states until December 5
The Election Commission (EC) halted the campaign in Telangana, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
On Thursday, the Election Commission requested that the Union Government refrain from holding the planned “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra” in the five states that are scheduled to have elections and where the Model Code of Conduct will be in effect till December 5.
The Election Commission (EC) halted the campaign in Telangana, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, following the Congress’s opposition to the BJP-led government’s plan to designate bureaucrats in the ranks of joint secretary, director, and deputy secretary as the “Rath Prabharis” for the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.” Congress representatives met with the EC on Wednesday and asked that they step in to prevent the administration from commencing the Yatra in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
In a letter dated Thursday, Ashwani Kumar Mohal, the secretary of the Commission, informed Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba of the commission’s directive that the “yatra” not be conducted in the states that are headed for polls, nor in the Tapi constituency of Nagaland, where a bye-election is scheduled to take place shortly.
Dates for the assembly elections
The dates for the assembly elections in the five states that will go to polls, as well as in Nagaland’s Tapi seat, were recently declared by the EC on October 9.
Elections are scheduled for November 7–30 in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh. Votes will be tallied on December 3.
The next Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for April and May of 2024, with the state assembly elections serving as the semi-finals.
The EC wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, “It has been brought to the notice of the commission that a letter has been circulated to the ministries for (the) nomination of senior officers as ‘District Rath Prabharis’ as special officers for the proposed ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ starting from 20th November 2023.”
It continued, “…Commission has directed that the aforesaid activities should not be taken in the constituencies where Model Code of Conduct is in force up till 5th December 2023.”
Political storm over “Rath Prabharis”
In order to “showcase/celebrate the achievements of the last nine years of the Government of India through the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra,” the Ministry of Finance has released a circular seeking the nomination of bureaucrats as the “rath prabharis.” A political storm ensued, with the Congress accusing the BJP of attempting to use government officials for its own propaganda before of the elections and of trying to politicise the bureaucracy.
The Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, demanded in writing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi remove the directive. Additionally, he took issue with a comparable directive from the Ministry of Defence requesting that soldiers on leave advocate for government initiatives.
The five states that are scheduled to hold elections as well as the Tapi assembly constituency in Nagaland are the only regions where the EC has ordered the cancellation of the “yatra” plan. The administration is free to proceed with the plan in other parts of the nation.
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