Cuttack: The Cuttack district election officer here today served a show-cause notice to BJD’s Cuttack-Barabati MLA candidate Debasish Samantaray for allegedly posting a Facebook message during the silence period on April 22.
The election officer has cited concerns that Samantaray’s message in social media appears to be violating model code of conduct and is also likely to influence voters and yield electoral benefit for him.
The sitting MLA and BJD's candidate has been asked to reply to the show cause within 48 hours as to why his message posted in Facebook shall not be treated as a violation under section 126 of People’s Representation Act, 1951, source said.
It may be noted that the Election Commission of India has made it mandatory for political parties and their candidates to refrain from holding public meetings, spreading or organising promotional messages or events aimed at influencing voters about 48 hours before the beginning of scheduled polling process.