Raipur: Placing poll-bound Chhagttisgarh under his intense scanner, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) J M Lyngdoh came down heavily on the "partisan" attitude of the state bureaucracy saying that even in Gujarat the officials were more impartial.

At the end of a day-long visit by the three-member Central Election Commission, he gave a stern warning to the state administration that the model code of conduct should be strictly obeyed and people at the highest level would be held responsible for lapses on that count.

Asked at a press conference how confident he was about proper assembly elections in the state, Lyngdoh said "I was more confident in Gujarat inspite of everything because they (the state administration) were ineffective in controlling the riot but thereafter they were very professional. But I am not so sure about this administration," in Chhattisgarh.

Earlier, addressing a meeting of district collectors, SPs and IGs, the CEC said Chhattisgarh officials "are working more with a partisan and biased attitude".

"I wonder why we are talking here because it appears we do not have any common ground", Lyngdoh is understood to have told the meeting held to review arrangements for the December one polls to the 90- member state assembly.

"Even in Gujarat, officials were more impartial but here it seems the state officials are more partisan and biased", he told the meeting.

Without referring to Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's meeting with him in New Delhi two days back, Lyngdoh told reporters that one party came to the EC and said they should not take action without taking a report from it.

"But we do not talk to political parties to verify a complaint. We have our own machineries and also we talk to the Chief Secretary and the DGP and get verify from them," he said.

The CEC said the Commission has received complaints against three major political parties that they are distributing liquors whereas in another case votes are being asked in conjunction with picture of gods and goddesses.

Lyngdoh said he received complaints that Ministers are touring officially which they cannot do as per the code of conduct and they are using official vehicles and are met by collectors and SPs wherever they are going and using Government accommodations.

Even the state plane is being used for election purposes and new projects are being sanctioned by the state Government and the prospective candidates are using more than three vehicles for rally as per the complaints, he said.

There are objectionable advertisements in newspapers for which the people can be prosecuted, as in the recent advertisements (by Congress) it did not carry in the print line of the name of the publisher, which is illegal, and some of such clippings were shown to them, the CEC said.

Lyngdoh said there was apprehension that the Ministers would use departmental employees for political purposes and therefore there has been direction that they be kept away from their Minister's constituencies on poll duty.

On complaints from the opposition, Lyngdoh also directed that no Minister's staff or employees of his department should be put on poll duty in the constituency of the Minister.

PTI