An unusual unconference!
We have to live with the virus. There is only so much power we can give it. And we can live with it, by masking and ensuring we build stronger immunity.
Livelihoods have to be saved. I run a business which involves physical meeting of people periodically. We have refrained from physical meetings for 20 months. Our last event was on March 12th 2020. Then we tried two small gatherings on December 21 and 22, 2021.
While we were at it we decided to experiment with an unconference in Mangalore to kick off the new year. Because we need to know how to organise residential events in the post-covid world and we had 30 friends of the Promise Foundation who signed up to be part of this effort. So, we may be the first event where we are trying multiple mini formats over the course of 24 hours on 8th and 9th January including a session under the mango tree. Those attending are doing it voluntarily and are also taking a risk because it involves travel. The event is centred around culture, cuisine, connections and conversations.
Around 25 of us will be at the Avatar Hotel in Mangalore. The unconference commences with conversations over lunch at Pickle & Grain restaurant in the hotel between 12 noon and 2 pm. Thereafter, the venue is ours for conversations around The Future of Communications where any delegate can speak for three minutes on the topic and share their views. This will run from 2.15 pm to 3.45 pm when we break for tea followed by a visit to the world-famous St Aloysius Chapel (2 kms away). For those who are not driving down we will arrange transportation for the same. The outing will last 90 minutes including travel time. We should be back at the hotel by 6.15 pm to freshen up. Cocktails and dinner that evening are at a 128 year-old Mangalorean home adjacent to the hotel. The couple that resides at Nandigudda House (Dr Derek and Patsy Lobo) have graciously agreed to host us there and open the doors to their vintage home. This will be between 7.20 pm and 9.50 pm.
Next morning breakfast is served at the Loft (the restaurant at Avatar) between 7.30 am. and 9.15 am. Thereafter, we will walk to another antique home – Melrose owned by the Coelho family which is 700 metres away from the hotel. We will sit in the verandah or under the mango tree and have conversations focussed on 2-3 topics that need a renewed focus in 2022 – mental well-being, work from home, technology impacting our lives. We will call this Caring for our Present. This will take place between 9.30 am and 11.30 am, after which we walk back to the hotel to check out, though a few will stay back and check out on Monday. For those who check-out after breakfast and leave their bags in the lobby an option to head out for lunch subject to late afternoon flights is available.
We know what we are doing is not business as usual but we will do it by keeping in mind the future of our business. We hope you will be kind to us whatever the outcome of this effort is. I take ownership of what will unfold. Therefore, I am publishing this on my personal blog. A blog after six long years.
Indian cities I have visited
I just wanted to capture in a list, all the 100 Indian cities I have visited so I’m motivated to visit some more.A visit means at least spending the entire day or staying one night in the city. Passing by does not count 🙂
Karnataka: Mangalore, Karwar, Bangalore, Mysore, Udupi, Manipal, Shimoga, Hassan, Chikamagalur, Madikeri, Mandya, Tumkur,
Kerala: Kasargod, Kannur, Trichur, Kottayam, Munnar, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam,
Tamilnadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Tanjore
Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad, Kazipet, Warangal, Vishakapatnam
Goa: Panjim, Margaon, Dona Paula
(30)
Maharashtra: Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Vasai, Karad, Matheran, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Alibag
Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal
Himachal Pradesh: Simla
Rajasthan: Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Jaisalmer, Neemrana
Punjab: Amritsar, Bathinda
Haryana: Karnal, Gurgaon
Uttar Pradesh: Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Meerut, Khushinagar, Sardarnagar
Jammu & Kashmir: Jammu, Srinagar
(30)
West Bengal: Calcutta, Durgapur, Kharagpur, Baruipur, Malda, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Asansol, Siliguri, Bagdogra, Jalpaiguri
Orissa: Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar, Behrampur,
Jharkand: Ranchi, Jamshedpur
Bihar: Patna
Gujarat: Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Bhuj, Gandhidam,
Uttarakhand: Dehradun, Mussourie, Nainital
Sikkim: Gangtok, Namchi, Pakyong
Assam: Guwahati, Kaziranga, Karbi Anglong, Dispur
Meghalaya: Shillong, Barapani
Union Territories: Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman, Pondicherry, New Delhi, Mahe,
(40)
How many have you been to?
Protected: Confidential – Event Preview
Countries I have visited
Since my blog is an open diary of things I like and think about, here is celebrating a milestone of travel – 25 countries, 125 international cities and all major continents at age 35. I’m a travel buff. I try and visit one new Indian city and one new country every year. Here’s the list of the latter.
Asia:
- Nepal (1992) – Bhutwal, Bhairwah
- Thailand (1999, 2008, 2014) – Bangkok, Hua Hin, Petchaburi, Pattaya
- Jordan (2000) – Amman
- Israel (2000) – Jerusalem
- Palestine (2000) – Bethlehem, Nazareth,
- Taiwan (2001) – Taipei
- Hong Kong (2006)
- UAE (2011) – Dubai, Abudhabi
- Malaysia (2011) – Kualalumpur, Genting
- China (2011) – Shanghai
- Bhutan (transit in 2001)
- Singapore (transit in 2001 and 2006)
- Srilanka (transit in 2014)
Europe:
- Italy (2000) – Rome, Assisi, Foligno, Cassia
- Vatican (2000)
- France (2000) – Paris,
- Belgium (2010) – Brussels, Brugges
- United Kingdom (2011) – London
- Germany (transit in 2010)
North America:
- USA (2010) – 30 cities*
- Canada (2013) – Toronto, Quebec City, Montreal
South America:
- Brazil (2013) – Sao Paolo, Rio de Janiero
Australia:
- Australia (2014) – Brisbane, Sydney
Africa:
- Tanzania (2015) – Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tanga, Moshi
- Kenya (2015) – Nairobi
30+ cities in USA – New York, Chicago, Miami, Indianapolis, St Louis
Cedar Rapids, Milwaukee, Dearborn, Washington DC, Seattle
Boston, Buffalo, Gatlinburg, San Francisco, Las Vegas
Grand Canyon, San Diego, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Austin
Charlotte, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Davenport, Atlanta
Madison, Springfield, Omaha, Portland, Philadelphia
Protected: 356. Twitter controversies are actually good fun
355. 14 memorable experiences of 2014
1.Feeding Kangaroos & then eating Kangaroo meat (cruel)
2.Cuddling Koalas in Brisbane
3.Walking on Bondi beach (fab)
4.Chilling out at Sydney Opera House
5.Flying on Malaysian Airlines despite warnings (scary)
6.Hanging out in Pattaya’s walking Street
7.Discovering Goudinhos in Panjim (yum)
8.Joining candidates on the election trail
9.Flying with a chief minister in a charter plane and on helicopter (thrilling)
10.Publishing my first book
11.Checking out the mismanaged Wagah Border
12.Winning the PR professional of the year award (real surprise)
13. Fighting with the one you love and then making peace
14.Hosting 20 PR head honchos for lunch and a brainstorm (humbling)
Onwards and upwards…
(this blog is about my journey in the last six months)
Last summer I decided to return from Chicago in the winter of 2013 (the plan was to spend two years in the USA and the resolve was to stick to the plan). I was to work full time on weekdays with the Gurgaon office of my employer and volunteer on the weekend (for 25 weekends) with a political party, in the run up to the elections. The first part of the plan did not work out because my Indian handlers dropped the ball miserably in terms of role, location and compensation. The second part of the plan was proposed because of my passion for politics and the possibility of me getting full time in either political strategy or electoral politics in the near future.
I began the new journey I had set out for by taking up a three month assignment as a consultant with a PR firm which was a frontrunner to work with a political party. I refused the overtures from another PR firm who turned out to be the underdog in the race for the same mandate. By then I had met Rahul Gandhi accidentally and was utterly disappointed with his style and approach. A meeting thereafter with a senior party strategist shocked me further, as I realised how ill prepared and chaotic they were. The situation was grim and the writing was on the wall. With that disillusionment I took the call to observe few individuals who I thought were promising Parliamentarians and learn grassroots campaigning and community outreach first hand.
In the meanwhile a friend of a friend got me in touch with Arvind Kejriwal himself to work on AAP’s content and communication. This was the second disappointment as the man is an awesome human being but a novice in politics who himself is learning the ropes. I got connected with a bunch of interesting men including Dilip Pandey and Yogendra Yadav but they were finding a method in the madness and I was impatient. So with no influence whatsoever, through twitter and email I decided to reach out to a few candidates and requesting them to let me be on their campaign trail for a few days. And thus began a journey of watching these candidates up, close and searching for signals of what the future had in store. I saw a Modi wave emerging and was not sure if I was overestimating what I was hearing on the ground. Or maybe I was in denial.
But the time I spent in these few constituencies watching how these young celebrity women candidates handled crowds, fans, voters was fascinating. I could sense they were not in a comfortable position in terms of winning but I could see their ardent desire to fight a system of patriarchy that was staring at them. I’m glad I decided to follow my heart and take the road less travelled. As this was happening a bunch of PR firm head honchos were beginning conversations with me to join their companies at the end of the election season and I had made up my mind that I certainly did not want to be employed as the entrepreneurial bug had bitten me. I knew that I wanted to start out on my own. And I had two ideas I was willing to experiment with. I will share these ideas in detail in a separate blog but one of them is to start a specialised communications firm exclusively for Members of Parliament.
In the last six months I met several of my old connections and at least 50 new people who support the idea of working out a hybrid model. With that advice I am taking up a consulting assignment where I’m offering my time, two days a week to a leading PR firm to be the advisor to its leadership on strategy and insights. And the rest of the time is mine, to build my ideas into commercially viable entities. Thus starting Monday, the 19th May 2014 I embark on a journey into the unknown but with a clear roadmap and Plan B that gets activated if my ideas fail which I will evaluate at the end of the year. For now, I am excited about the new contours my professional journey is taking. And I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my life. Onwards and upwards!
The new political wave!
Today was not like any other. It was result day after a well fought election. And very few expected the kind of result that we saw. This was also an election that was projected to be a watershed and indeed it was. Here are my ten takeaways of the outcome –
It was severe anti-incumbency and the way cabinet minister after cabinet minister lost and in some cases coming third and fourth was a story in itself. The External Affairs minister, the Telecom minister, the HRD minister, the Home minister and several others had to all bite the dust.
It was a vote for credible change and we saw it in the way the voters gave a decisive verdict ensuring the leading party got all seats in some states and almost 95% seats in few others. The ruling dispensation was wiped out in states where it is running a government.
It was a clearly laid out war and every trick in the book and every tool in the kit was put to good use. The opponents were caught unaware as the onslaught went on and on. There was one side charging along and no one to lay a counter offensive.
It was well packaged and that is something to marvel about. Political packaging and communication has come of age and BJP showed everyone how it is done and how it is done in utmost style. From merchandise to event properties to road shows.
It was stealthily executed which is how battles are fought. The enemy doesn’t have a clue of what is going on. Most of all does not smell that something is a miss and the ground beneath it is shaking.
It was a disgust for dynasty and across the board. There were exceptions in the ruling dispensation. But in UP outside of the Sangh Parivar only ywo families won – 2 seats to the Gandhi family and 5 seats to the Yadav clan.
It was a no risking on fringe players by what I mean BJP did not let potential allies slip by. They built the right partnerships including bringing back certain elements back to the fold as we saw in Karnataka.
It was divisive. The numbers were far from what the BJP had imagined. They won in one state more than what the Cogress got in all states. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Dibrugarh they won hands down. The Congress did not get double digits in any state. Their final national tally was almost half of what BJP got in one state
It was everywhere and sometimes over the top. The in your face advertising on outdoors, on social media, on print, on TV. They played to win. The Congress played because they had no choice. They did not fight and most of all they did not communicate right.
It was unstoppable. This goes without saying. The juggernaut rolled like a well oiled machine and it made a mark, proved a point and is here to stay.
My MXM India columns in one place
150. 11th April
149. 4th April
148. 28th March
147. 21st March
146. 14th March
145. 7th March
144. 29th February –
143. 22nd February –
142. 15th February –
141. 8th February –
140. 1st February – Leaving a Legacy
139. 25th January – 16 things we hope to see in Indian PR this year
138. 18th January – The 16 leading ladies of Indian PR consulting
137. 11th January – 16 Trends in PR & Corp Comm in 2016
136. 2016 4th January – 16 people to watch out in 2016 in Indian Public Relations
135. 28th December – 15 events in World and Indian PR
134. 21st December – 15 young professionals who show promise
133. 14th December – 15 books to read for PR pros in the year ahead
132. 7th December – 15 interesting moves in 2015
131. 30th November – A perspective on PR awards
130. 23rd November – Notes from Nairobi
129. 16th November – The Kingdom of Dreams experience lacks good Public Relations
128. 9th November – A quest for higher education in Communications
127. 2nd November – Why brands get it wrong?
126. 26th October – What can our Festivals teach us?
125. 19th October – Public Relations learnings from the week that was
124. 12th October – The Pirate’s Manifesto
123. 5th October – 7 things they don’t teach you at C school
122. 28th September – A Praxis like no other
121. 21st September – What the new PRCAI President ought to do?
120. 14th September – Public Relations is about honesty, no matter what!
119. 7th September – 21 steps to a bloody good event
118. 31st August – Where is our talent coming from?
117. 24th August – PR is not changing. We are!
116. 17th August – Liberation is what we need!
115. 10th August – The season of PR events is here!
114. 3rd August – The Public Relations person par excellence
113. 27th July – 10 steps to being better PR professionals
112. 20th July – Public Relations is about the simple touches
111. 13th July – New age brands that have built themselves using smart Public Relations
110. 6th July – Pot Pourri from the world of Public Relations
109. 29th June – When will there be a Cannes Lion Grand Prix for PR, by PR and of PR?
108. 22nd June – The Client Brief – is that a myth?
107. 15th June – New age problems of dealing with younger talent
106. 8th June – Brand Maggi – 20 years to build, 2 minutes to get destroyed!
105. 1st June – 10 on 10 for the Modi govt on PR, but…
104. 25th May – If Public Relations cannot be measured, then what can be?
103. 18th May – To understand PR better, learn the definition of a religion
102. 11th May – Three men who made news in interesting ways last week
101. 4th May – Independent PR Firms are no different from holding company-owned firms
100. 27th April – Our biggest PR campaign would be a display of discipline
99. 20th April – Why PR is never going to get its due for a long time?
98. 13th April – Which are the good PR firms?
97. 6th April – The Aam Aadmi Party just did business
96. 30th March – Freedom of Speech and its implications
95. 23rd March –Where’s the Seat at the table?
94. 16th March – Has Public Relations lost its credibility?
93. 9th March – They don’t make editors like Vinod Mehta anymore
92. 2nd March – The art of Public Relations is changing
91. 23rd February – 30 under 30 and what they need to do
90. 16th February – Another election where Public Relations won
89. 9th February – Time for more meaningful Engagement with the most important stakeholders
88. 2nd February – The PR Business in India needs a school of its own
87. 27th January – 15 people to watch out for in 2015
86. 19th January – Time for real Reputation Management professionals in Politics
85. 12th January – 15 things we need to see in a PR Institute in 2015
84. 2015 5th January – Public Communications and Public Reputation – Perspectives for 2015
83. 29th December – Fourteen must reads in 2014
82. 22nd December – A book to remember because the PRactice of PR in India has so few
81. 15th December – What to do when hit by a Reputation Crisis
80. 8th December – People make our business
79. 1st December – My PR Person of the Year
78. 24th November – The Rise of PR firms in India over the last two decades
77. 17th November – How about a dedicated school for Reputation Management?
76. 10th November – Media relationships will get increasingly complex in a cluttered world
75. 3rd November – Hiring journalists without training them is unfair to the profession and unjust to the individual
74. 27th October – The Public Relations Campaign brief
73. 20th October – Politics is all about Public Reputation as it is in everyday life and more
72. 13th October – We need to showcase our PR Icons
71. 6th October – Managing the three Es in PR
70. 29th September – (No column)
69. 22nd September – Public Reputation is a matter of PRide
68. 15th September – Getting professionals together is just half the work done
67. 8th September – Public Reputation in Politics
66. 1st September – The Public Reputation Alphabet
65. 25th August – Public Reputation cannot be built in a day
64. 18th August – Why is Public Reputation Management widely misunderstood
63. 11th August – From Public Relations to Public Reputation
62. 4th August – The art of Public Relations – it is about practicing what we preach
61. 28th July – Positioning, Participating and Packaging and a night to remember
***
60. 21st July – The vicious PR cycle of education, jobs and salaries
59. 14th July – PRAXIS2014 is slicker, smarter and super
58. 7th July – The great PR place to work
57. 30th June – Whose Cannes Lion is it anyway?
56. 23rd June – Is a Cannes PR Lion within our reach? (blank column)
55. 16th June – The elusive Cannes Lion
54. 9th June – HR in Public Relations needs to do the right things to build a better reputation
53.2nd June – The exclusivity of exclusives
52. 26th May – The year flew by and we have a brand new government
51. 16th May – In the end Public Relations won! (Special edition)
50. 12th May – What corporate spokespersons can learn from the Narendra Modi interview on Times Now?
49. 5th May – What’s new that PR folks can offer clients?
48. 28th Apr – The Accidental Media Advisor
47. 21st Apr – Four major international PR events not to miss in 2014
46. 14th Apr – On the campaign trail – so much PR to learn
45.7th Apr – The Indian PR scene
44.31st Mar – The Public Relations in the aftermath of the tragedy of MH370
43.24th Mar – Much action for Indian PR frat this year
42.17th Mar – Holiday (My blog on Raising money for a Cause)
41.10th Mar – The media gift conundrum
40.3rd Mar – 10 years as a PR practitioner
39.24th Feb – The crucible called Media Lists
38.17th Feb – Time to stand up for upright journalism
37.10th Feb – The need for an individual membership-driven PR association
36.3rd Feb – What corporate spokespersons can learn from the historic Rahul Gandhi interview?
35.27th Jan – The PR professional-Journalist changing equation
34.20th Jan – The Public Relations of Indian Politics
33.13th Jan – Time to protect our profession from quacks
32. 2014 6th Jan – 2014: A year that promises a lot of action
31.30th Dec – 13 PR savvy Indian events and people of 2013
30.23rd Dec – 13 PR savvy international events and people of 2013
29.16th Dec – Reminiscences of the Global PR summit
28.9th Dec – PR lessons for AAP, BJP & Congress for the general elections
27.2nd Dec – Did you do things differently to be a better PR professional this year?
26.25th Nov – It’s not about doing the right things, it’s about doing everything right
25.18th Nov – Public Relations for dummies
24.11th Nov – What’s with the friction between Journalists and PR professionals?
23.4th Nov – Holiday (My blog on life in Edelman Chicago)
22.28th Oct – Public Relations and Bad Publicity
21.21st Oct – How Public Relations can win back the respect it deserves!
20.14th Oct – How PR professionals can upgrade their skills
19.7th Oct – Beggars are not choosers but in Chicago they also know how not to be losers
18.30th Sep – Musings from India’s only weekend summit for Public Relations
17.23rd Sep – Public Relations has a bigger stake in Social Media than any other stream
16.16th Sep – How Storytelling has come to become the new buzzword in PR
15.9th Sep – Why our politicians must undertake media training
14.2nd Sep – Bring back the Credible into Incredible India!
13.26th Aug – Modi’s online Public Relations campaign
12.19th Aug – How PR at a gigantic event is pulled through together…
11.12th Aug – Learning Public Relations from the Pope
10.5th Aug – The next phase in the evolution of Public Relations
9.29th Jul – Events that make our profession worth being part of
8.22nd Jul – The 6 Cs that are the currency of being successful PR professionals
7.15th Jul – 5 ways PR in US is different from that in India
6.8th Jul – One size does not fit all!
5.1st Jul – It’s time to give ace communicators their due
4.24th Jun – Why can’t our PR firms win PR Lions at Cannes?
3.17th Jun – Do you know who your biggest ambassador is? (Employee Engagement)
2.10th Jun – The case for Public Relations in governance
1. 2013 – 3rd Jun – To new beginnings!
Elections are fascinating – here is the 2014 schedule
India, world’s largest democracy, is once again ready to witness the power of votes. The Election Commission on March 5 announced the schedule for Lok Sabha polls 2014. Polling will be held in nine phases from April 07 to May 12 and the counting of votes will be held on May 16.
General Elections phase-wise schedule:
Phase 1: April 7 in two states
Phase 2: April 9 – five states
Phase 3: April 10 – 14 states
Phase 4: April 12 – three states
Phase 5: April 17 – 13 states
Phase 6: April 24 – 12 states
Phase 7: April 30 – nine states
Phase 8: May 7 – seven states
Phase 9: May 12 – 3 states.
State-wise schedule:
Andhra Pradesh (40 seats): April 30 (17 seats), May 7 (25)
Arunachal Pradesh (2): April 9
Assam (14): April 7 (5), April 12 (3), April 24 (6)
Bihar (40): April 10 (6), 17 (7), 24 (7), 30 (7), May 7 (7), 12 (6)
Chhattisgarh (11): April 10 (1), 17 (3), 24 (7)
Goa (2): April 17 (2)
Gujarat (26): April 30 (26)
Haryana (10): April 10 (10)
Himachal Pradesh (4): May 7 (4)
Jammu and Kashmir (6): April 10 (1), 17 (1), 24 (1), 30 (1), May 7 (2)
Jharkhand (14): April 10 (5), 17 (5), 24 (4)
Karnataka (28) – April17 (28)
Kerala (20): April 10 (20)
Madhya Pradesh (29): April 10 (9), 17 (10), 24 (10)
Maharashtra (48): April 10 (10), 17 (19), 24 (19)
Manipur (2): April 9 (1), 17 (1)
Meghalaya (2): April 9 (2)
Mizoram (1): April 9 (1)
Nagaland (1): April 9 (1)
Odisha (21): April 10 (10), 17 (11)
Punjab (13): April 30 (13)
Rajasthan (25): April 17 (20), 24 (5)
Sikkim (1): April 12 (1)
Tamil Nadu (39): April 24 (39)
Tripura (2): April 7 (1), 12 (1)
Uttar Pradesh (80): April 10 (10), 17 (11), 24 (12), 30 (14), May 7 (15), 12 (18)
Uttarakhand (5): May 7 (5)
West Bengal (42): April 17 (4), 24 (6), 30 (9), May 7 (6), 12 (17)
Union Territories
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1): April 10 (1)
Chandigarh (1): April 10 (1)
Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1): April 30 (1)
Daman and Diu (1): April 30 (1)
Lakshadweep (1): April 10 (1)
Delhi (7): April 10 (7)
Puducherry (1): April 24 (1)
Assembly elections:
Andhra Pradesh including Telangana region: April 30, May 7
Odisha: April 10, 17
Sikkim: April 12
Also Read: Salient features of India’s general election
The schedule was announced by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath along with Election Commissioners H S Brahma and Dr Nasim Zaidi at a press conference held at Vigyan Bhavan in the national capital.
The elections would see more than 81.4 crore voters exercise their ballot; the number of voters is 10 crore more than the last general election held in 2009. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 1 and the new House has to be constituted by May 31.
Sampath said that the EC had taken into consideration factors like examination schedules and weather conditions.
The EC said that electoral roll have already been updated till January 1, 2014 and final rolls have been published in all states.
However, the EC has offered one more opportunity to enroll in the electoral rolls. Camps would be set up on March 9 at all polling booths – around 9,30,000 – across the country to allow people to enroll themselves, the EC said.
The Model Code of Conduct for governments and political parties will come into force with immediate effect.
On the security measures being implemented by the EC, Sampath said, “To ensure free and fair elections we have taken particular care to ensure that people living in vulnerable areas and vulnerable voters are in continuous touch with the election machinery to ensure that they are able to vote uninterpreted by anyone.”
“Adequate number of observers in different categories will be deployed during the forthcoming elections,” he added.
On the neutrality of officials engaged in conduct of elections, Sampath said the EC expects them to discharge their duty without fear or favour.
“Strict action will be taken against officials who are found wanting in any aspect,” the CEC said.
With regards to the steps being taken to curb use of money power in the elections, he said, “The Election Commission has mounted a series of measures for monitoring expenditure; special emphasis is given to check flow of money during elections.”
“Besides expenditure observers, sufficient number of flying squads will be employed to check use of money power,” he added.
An important feature of the polls would be the introduction of paper trail system for electronic voting in some constituencies on a trial basis.
Also, the EC has issued guidelines to political parties asking them to explain the rationale of financing the promises they make in their election manifestos. The guidelines that followed Supreme Court directions in this regard have now been made part of the Model Code.
Another first in the Lok Sabha elections will be the introduction of “None of the Above” (NOTA) option in voting, which came into vogue in the assembly elections a few months ago.
From the coming elections, candidates in a parliamentary constituency in bigger states can spend up to Rs 70 lakh on their campaign, up from Rs 40 lakh in 2011. In the 2009 elections, it was Rs 25 lakh.
amithpr 