Patna, April 13: Prohibition in Bihar notwithstanding, the state election commission has chosen to stick to its old way of issuing directives regarding liquor use for candidates contesting the elections for urban local bodies.

The directive is part of the model code of conduct issued by the commission, which conducts panchayat and urban local body polls, today.

"From two days prior to the date of voting till the day of voting no candidate should purchase liquor and it should also not be offered to anyone or distributed. Every contestant should prohibit his/her worker also from doing so," read Section IX of the general conduct rules meant for candidates. The general conduct rules have been elaborated under 16 sections dealing with conduct of candidates.

Something similar has been iterated in the concluding part of the model code of conduct which has mentioned the various dos and don'ts for candidates and government. Section 23 under the don'ts section states: "No liquor should be distributed during polls."

Contestants were quick to react when their attention was drawn towards the points mentioned in the code of conduct. "What is the relevance of such instructions when prohibition is already in place? The commission should have omitted these sections prior to issuing the code of conduct," said a sitting ward councillor of Patna Municipal Corporation.

Another one came up with a tongue-in-cheek remark. "It appears that the state election commission officials are not aware of what is happening in the state." Some officials at the state election commission too questioned the logic of the aforesaid instructions and one of them claimed: "I had pointed it out to my seniors but they decided to continue with the code which had already been drafted."

Ashok Kumar Chouhan said: "We have just reiterated what has been the part of the model code of conduct. We had issued similar instructions even during panchayat elections." While panchayat elections were held last year in April-May, after prohibition had been imposed in the state, elections for urban local bodies will be held on May 21 and June 4 this year.

Officials removed

The state election commission today sent a letter to the chief secretary informing him about its decision of not using the services of Subodh Kumar, sub-divisional officer of Sheikhpura, and Sunil Kumar Chand, block development officer of Sheikhpura, in the light of an inquiry report sent by the Sheikhpura district magistrate (DM) in which these two officials had been found to be involved in tampering with the electoral roll to extend favour to a certain candidate. The commission had asked the Sheikhpura DM to conduct an inquiry against the officials after it received the complaint.

The commission in its letter to the chief secretary has also asked for immediate transfer of the officials and also to start disciplinary action against them.