Menace of money power :EC

 Election Commission on Thursday told senior officers that neutrality was "non-negotiable" in elections,"Though there was no specific complaint, political parties have pointed out towards politicisation of bureaucracy during their meeting with us. We have told top officials that neutrality is non-negotiable and they should be 100 per cent neutral", Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi told reporters.Claiming to have successfully controlled use of muscle power in elections, Quraishi said the EC would also check use of money power using its experiences in recent Assembly polls in five states."Use of muscle power in elections is history as is the case of booth capturing. Now we will be effectively keeping a tab on use of money power," Quraishi said.On the demand of some parties for early polls in the state, Quraishi said two parties wanted early polls in January-February citing harvesting season, competitive examinations and excessive heat in the later months as reasons."We will take a call on it later. We have to make preparations for four other states as well," he said.About the trend of paid news during elections, the CEC said the EC was legally examining ways to deal with it.