Model Code of Conduct – Explained Pointwise

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accused of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) when his address was broadcast live on national television. In his speech, he named opposition parties and urged women voters to punish them for defeating the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. The broadcast raises important questions under both the Code and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Table of Contents

What is the Model Code of Conduct? What is the history of its evolution? What are the key provisions of Model Code of Conduct (MCC)? What is the significance of Model Code of Conduct? What are the Challenges with the Model Code of Conduct? What Should be the Way Forward?

What is the Model Code of Conduct? What is the history of its evolution?

• Model Code of Conduct: The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for political parties and candidates to maintain decorum in their campaigning. It lays down a list of dos and don’ts for leaders and parties ahead of elections. The Election Commission formalised it in 1968, revised it in 1974, and added Part VII on the ‘Party in Power’ in 1979.
• Duration of Model Code of Conduct: The MCC comes into force from the date the election schedule is announced until the date that results are out.
• Legal Enforceability of MCC: MCC does not have any statutory backing. It has come to acquire strength in the past decade because of its strict enforcement by the EC. Certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the IPC 1860, CrPC 1973, and RPA 1951.
• Penalties for its violation: If the Election Commission finds a party or candidate in violation of the Model Code of Conduct, it can take measures from issuing a warning to ordering an FIR against the concerned party or candidate.

History of Evolution of Model Code of Conduct:

1960	The origin of the MCC lies in the Assembly elections of Kerala in 1960. The State administration prepared a ‘Code of Conduct’ for political actors.
1962	ECI circulated the Model Code of Conduct to all recognized political parties & State governments. It was followed in the Lok Sabha Elections in 1962.
1991	The EC decided to enforce the MCC more strictly after repeated flouting of the election norms.
2014	The EC issued guidelines prohibiting parties from making promises that exert an undue influence on voters. The EC also suggested that manifestos must also indicate the means to achieve promises.

What are the key provisions of MCC?

General Conduct	No party or candidate shall engage in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and religious or linguistic communities. All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are ‘corrupt practices‘ and ‘offences‘ under the election law, such as bribing of voters, intimidation of voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing within 100 meters of polling stations, holding public meetings during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of voters to and from polling station. Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, which are not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties.
Meetings	The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the venue and time any proposed meeting well in time so as to enable the police to make necessary arrangements for controlling traffic and maintaining peace and order. The party or candidate shall apply to the authority concerned well in advance to obtain permission or license for the use of loudspeakers or any other facility in connection with any proposed meeting.
Procession	A Party or candidate organizing a procession shall decide before hand the time and place of the starting of the procession, the route to be followed and the time and place at which the procession will terminate. The organizers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the procession so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic. The carrying of effigies purporting to represent member of other political parties or their leaders, burning such effigies in public and such other forms demonstration shall not be countenanced by any political party or candidate.
Polling Day	All Political parties and candidates shall co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly polling. All Political parties and candidates shall refrain from serving or distributing liquor on polling day and during the forty eight hours preceding it. All authorized party workers at polling booths should be given suitable badges or identity cards. Identity slips supplied by them to voters shall be on plain (white) paper and shall not contain any symbol, name of the candidate or the name of the party.
Polling Booth	The EC will appoint observers to whom any candidates may report problems regarding the conduct of the election.
Party in Power	Ministers shall not combine official visits with election work or use official machinery for the same. The party in power shall avoid advertising at the cost of the public exchequer or using official mass media for publicity on achievements to improve chances of victory in the elections. Ministers and other authorities shall not announce any financial grants, or promise any construction of roads, provision of drinking water. Public spaces and rest houses shall not be monopolized by the party in power and other parties shall also be allowed to use them.
Election Manifestos	The election manifesto shall not contain anything against the ideals and principles enshrined in the Constitution. Political parties shall avoid making promises that are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on voters. Manifestos shall reflect the rationale for promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it. Manifestos shall not be released during the prohibitory period (before 48 hours), as prescribed under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, for single or multi-phase elections.

What is the significance of MCC?

1. Ensuring free and fair elections (Article 324): Model Code of Conduct aims to address the issues of electoral malpractices and ensure that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.
2. Ensures a Level Playing Field: The MCC prevents the ruling party (at the Centre or state) from misusing its official position or resources to gain an undue advantage over opponents for e.g. No announcement of new policies, schemes, or financial grants once the code is in force, Ban on using government machinery, vehicles, or personnel for campaigning, Bar on transferring officials who are connected with election work.
3. Ensuring social harmony: Model Code of Conduct aims to preserve social harmony by  proscribing the political parties and candidates in engaging in any activity which may aggravate existing differences, create mutual hatred and cause tension between different castes and communities, religious and linguistic groups.
4. Encouraging transparency and accountability: MCC encourages transparency and accountability on part of the political parties to reflect the rationale for their electoral promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it.
5. Creates Moral & Political Authority: Though not legally enforceable as a statute, the MCC has gained immense moral and political force over decades. Parties and candidates comply largely due to fear of ECI’s punitive actions (e.g., barring a leader from campaigning, nullifying a victory, or deregistering a party).

What are the Challenges with the Model Code of Conduct?

1. Lack of Statutory Backing: The MCC is election commission’s moral sanction to get political parties and candidates to fall in line. But the norms of the Model Code of Conduct are flouted due to lack of legal backing.
2. Ineffectiveness in Curbing Malpractices: The MCC has failed to prevent electoral malpractices such as hate speech, fake news, money power, booth capturing, voter intimidation and violence.
3. Challenges from evolving technologies: The MCC was designed for traditional media and rallies. MCC norms are also being increasingly challenged by new technologies like AI based deepfakes, and social media platforms that enable faster and wider dissemination of misinformation and propaganda.
4. Vague Clauses: Some MCC clauses, such as maintaining the ‘purity of the election process‘, are subjective and can be misinterpreted. Phrases like “appealing to communal feelings” or “personal attacks” are subjective. What one person considers a policy critique, another may see as a violation, leading to claims of bias in how the ECI interprets the code. 
5. Reliance on Political Cooperation: The MCC’s effectiveness depends on the cooperation from political parties and governments. Parties and governments often indulge in the violation of MCC. For ex- Hate Speeches during election campaigning.
6. Lack of Enforcement capacity of Election commission: ECI suffers from the shortage of functionaries for the effective implementation of the MCC.
7. Interference with Governance: ECI is criticized for the early application of MCC as it imposes limitations on policy decisions, public spending, welfare schemes, transfers, and appointments. The blanket ban on new policy announcements and projects can stall critical, non-political administrative and development work.
8. Inconsistent & Delayed Enforcement: The ECI can be slow to act on complaints, especially against high-profile leaders, leading to allegations of bias and eroding public trust.
9. Lack of Awareness and Compliance: The provisions of the Model code of conduct is not widely known or understood by voters, candidates, parties, and government officials.
10. Exclusion of Party Expenditure: While there are strict legal limits on how much an individual candidate can spend on an election, there is currently no cap on how much a political party can spend. This creates a massive loophole where parties can spend hundreds of crores on high-tech rallies, digital ads, and private jets, technically staying within the “spirit” of the MCC while vastly outspending smaller rivals. 

Read More- Electoral Reforms in India

What Should be the Way Forward?

1. Establishment of fast track tribunals: Establishing special election tribunals to resolve MCC cases within 6 months would ensure that the punishment actually happens while the election impact is still fresh.
2. Explore the option of providing statutory backing to MCC:
   • The recommendation of standing committee on electoral reforms of providing statutory backing to MCC must be considered and explored.
   • Instead of making the entire MCC a law (which could lead to long judicial delays), the Law Commission has suggested making specific, grave violations – like “Paid News,” surrogate advertising, and communal hate speech – explicitly punishable as “Corrupt Practices” under the Representation of the People Act (RPA).
3. Changes in MCC to counter the misuse of new technologies: Changes in MCC must be brought and the capacity of ECI must be increased to deal with the misuse of social media like Whatsapp and Facebook which are used to influence opinions on the day of election.
4. Rationalizing MCC Application: To prevent disruption of development works and administrative processes – Create “essential services” exemption list; phase-wise withdrawal of MCC after polling.
5. Neutrality on part of ECI: ECI must be neutral in application of MCC across all the parties and candidates.
6. Deregistration Power: Currently, the ECI can register a party but lacks the clear power to deregister one. A proposed reform is to empower the ECI to suspend or deregister parties for repeated, systemic violations of the MCC.
7. Amending the “Silence Period”: The 48-hour campaign silence period before polling (Section 126 of RP Act) is virtually ineffective online. The law must be explicitly amended to cover the internet, social media, and OTT platforms to prevent last-minute misinformation campaigns.
8. Mandatory AI Watermarking: All political parties must be mandated to use “digital signatures” or watermarks on their official content, making it easier to track “dark ads” or fake videos back to their source.
9. Capping Party Expenditure: A statutory cap on party-level expenditure is considered essential to maintain a “level playing field” and prevent the MCC from being overwhelmed by massive corporate-funded campaigns.

Read More: ECI, The Hindu Syllabus: GS 2- Electoral reforms and issues related to RPA