District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal today stated that with the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019, restrictions regarding carrying of cash have been issued. He informed that any person can carry up to Rs 50,000 in cash without proof, if any person is carrying between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh, then valid proof is required, whereas if any person is caught carrying more than Rs 10 lakh in cash (even with valid proof), then that particular case would be immediately handed over to the Income Tax department for further investigation.The Deputy Commissioner said this while holding a meeting with the representatives of marriage palaces, hotels, political parties etc at Bachat Bhawan, here today.During the meeting, Mr Agrawal informed that the aim of this decision is not to harass any person, but to keep a check on illegal flow of money. He said that several flying squads have already been formed for this purpose, that would remain on duty 24X7.
During the meeting with representatives of marriage palaces and hotels, Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal stated that if any political party/candidate wants to organise a rally/meeting/conference in their premises, prior permission from the District Administration is required. He said that the marriage palace/hotel owner cannot allow any such function if the organiser (political party/candidate) does not have a valid permission.
He said that failure of possessing a valid permission before the start of a function would attract strict action against the political party/candidate as well as the marriage palace/hotel owner.He also asked the marriage palace/hotel owners to inform the district administration about the expenditure incurred by the political party/candidate by organising a rally/meeting/conference at email ID, [email protected], without fail. He also stated that no person would be allowed to ferry liquor without a valid bill/permit within district Ludhiana.While chairing a meeting with the representatives of political parties, Mr Agrawal said that their candidates/political party require to get prior permissions from the District Administration for holding any election related activity. He stated that all permissions would be granted within 24 hours in a hassle free manner and the candidates/political party would get permissions from the office of District Election Officer Ludhiana, from the office of concerned SDM/ARO as well as from the SUVIDHA application. There would also be a complete ban on loudspeakers between 10 pm to 6 am.The District Election Officer Ludhiana also clarified that they would start recording the expenditure of a particular person only after he/she files his/her nomination papers. Before that, all expenditure would be booked against the political party.