Election Commission of India said Manifestos for both single and multi phase elections shall not be released during prohibitory period, as prescribed under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The commission has now made the release of election manifestos a part of the Model Code of Conduct, which is a set of rules to be followed by parties after elections are announced.

Section 126 of the act embodies “election silence”, which prohibits any form of election campaign in the last 48 hours leading up to voting. As of now there was no rule on timing of release of manifestos.