NEW DELHI: Political parties and their leaders must now be prepared to face action for making false promises or misleading voters through please-all manifestos in the run-up to the polls. The chief electoral officer of Delhi is preparing to include Election Commission of India ’s guidelines on election manifestos in the Model Code of Conduct and will reach out to political parties in the weeks ahead to build awareness.

With the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections and the consequent notification of the Model Code of Conduct likely in the first week of March, the EC has issued guidelines on manifestos in keeping with the Supreme Court of India directives on the matter.

The guidelines have been sent to all state election commissions and electoral officers for compliance and building awareness in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. “The guidelines are being added to the model code of conduct manual as a first step in terms of compliance. This time, the content of party manifestos will also be under our scrutiny. Even if a manifesto is released before the code comes into force, it will be covered under the EC’s guidelines for manifestos,” chief electoral officer of Delhi, Vijay Dev, said.

As per the guidelines, an election manifesto should not contain anything repugnant to the ideals and principles enshrined in the Constitution, and should be consistent with the letter and spirit of other provisions of the model code of conduct. “Political parties should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise,” the EC lays down.

“In the interest of transparency, level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for them. Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled,” the ECI emphasizes.

The Supreme Court in its judgment dated July 5, 2013 directed the EC to frame guidelines with regard to the contents of election manifestos in consultation with recognized political parties. The EC, in compliance with the SC directive, held consultations with political parties where some supported the guidelines and the others were of the view that it was their right and duty towards voters to make such offers and promises.

While the EC agreed with the parties that the framing of manifestos is their prerogative, it held that it cannot overlook the undesirable impact of some of the promises and offers on the conduct of free and fair elections and maintaining level playing field for all political parties and candidates.