Chairman of the Congress campaign committee Virbhadra Singh met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) VS Sampat and urged him to immediately impose the model code of conduct for the elections in the state as he alleged that BJP led Govt is trying to woo electoral with populist measures. He also said that Himachal assembly election should conduct in single phase and for that it should he held before November 5.
Virbhadra Singh submitted an eight-page letter to the CEC explaining at length the problems faced due to the holding of elections in December in 2007. He said apart from the tribal belt, the higher areas of Shimla, Chamba, Mandi, Kangra and Kullu were affected by snow and keeping this in view, polling should be held in one go in the entire state before November 5 as there could be snow after that anytime.
To ensure the free and fair poll, He also asked Sampat to remove those officers who had been either given extension or re-employed by Dhumal government. He also asked him to shift those officers as well who are moved to districts from the Chief Minister’s secretariat over the past three months.
Virbhadra Singh also urged the CEC to debar the government from issuing advertisements highlighting its achievements in the media or the expenditure on such publicity be credited to the poll expenses account of the BJP.
