If people of Indian origin (PIOs) campaign in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the country, will they be violating their visa conditions?
This question was posed to the law ministry by the Election Commission as election laws do not say anything regarding who can campaign in the country’s elections.
During the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, when several PIOs came to the state to campaign for the AAP, the chief electoral officer (CEO) of the state had raised a query with the commission on whether this category of people can do so.
“There was no complaint from any party in this regard. But the CEO raised a query as it was a new situation. As the Representation of the People Act and related electoral rules are silent on the issue, the commission then sought an answer from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The MEA asked the commission to seek a response from the law ministry,” a government functionary, aware of the correspondence between the EC and the government, said.
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