DW BUREAU / PATIALA District Election Officer Sandeep Hans held a meeting with the representatives of political parties regarding the Model Code of Conduct. Sandeep Hans advised all political parties to strictly comply with the Model Code of Conduct imposed by the Election Commission and assured candidates interested in contesting elections of full support by the district administration. He advised the political parties to perform their activities within the established norms and by following the Covid restrictions applicable, so that they may not face any difficulties. District Election Officer informed that the legal limit of poll expenditure by any political party was set at Rs 40 lakh, therefore all candidates should follow rules as the expenditure incurred by them will be under scrutiny. Sandeep Hans said that Covid restrictions are in place for rallies, marches and political meetings till 15 January but door-to-door campaigning is allowed, for which the group should not exceed 5 members. He said that various teams of the district administration are working around the clock and the police as well as excise department are alert and cautious, and therefore no one should indulge in any illegal activity like distribution of drugs/intoxicants. Additional Deputy commissioner-cum-additional District Election Officer Gurpreet Singh Thind, present during the meeting assured the political parties of complete support by the district administration and promised unbiased, free and fair polls if the political parties cooperate with the administration. He also provided a set of documents of rules and regulations to each political party, on the occasion. District rural president Congress, Gurdeep Singh Untsar, Office Incharge Congress, Mahinder Singh, Akash Sharma and Sukhbir Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party, Sukhdev Singh from AAP, Jaswinder Singh Chhabra of NCP, Shama Kant Pandey of Shiv Sena, Ravinder Singla of Shiv Sena Hindustan, etc assured the district administration of their full support in complying with all rules and regulations under the Model Code of Conduct. (editor@dailyworld.in)