Politicians beware! EC has found new ways of watching you

The Election Commission has decided to set up call centres across the five poll-bound states -- Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry -- which will operate round the clock. These centres will receive complaints, if any, about the violation of the model code of conduct by various poll candidates and their supporters.

The announcement was made by Chief Election Commissioner Dr S Y Quraishi during his visit to Assam to monitor preparations for the forthcoming polls.

Reportage: Anurag Kashyap in Guwahati

In another unique initiative, the EC plans to put up cameras at polling booths in remote constituencies and broadcast the polling process to the state chief election officer's office to ensure that the process goes on smoothly.

The EC will also record election meetings of various political parties and candidates that will be watched by poll expenditure monitoring committees.

Quraishi urged the media to help the EC monitor cases of violation of the model code of conduct.

"We consider the media as our ally and friend during elections. We will see through your eyes," he said. The poll panel will take up such media exposes as a formal complaint and take necessary action, he said.

The EC is also setting up district-level media watch committees to monitor the phenomenon of paid news.

"Such committees will have, among others, a senior journalist nominated by the Press Council of India. These committees will keep a tab on print as well as electronic media," he said.