The Election Commission has asked the chief electoral officers of the five poll bound states to ensure that the photos of political leaders in hoardings and advertisements, which seek to project the achievements of any living political functionaries or political party, are either removed or covered.
The commission emphasised to the officers, through a letter sent on January 6, that its instructions on hoardings and advertisements, first issued on December 24 2004, should be fully complied with.
The original instruction of the commission in this regard reads, “those hoardings, advertisements etc. put up by the government which purport to give general information or convey general messages to the masses on family planning, social welfare etc may be allowed to be displayed.”
“However, all those hoardings, advertisements etc., which seek or purport to project the achievements of any living political functionaries or political party and which carry their photos or name or party symbol should be removed.”
The rationale behind the instruction is that no political party or functionary can use public resources and incur or authorise expenditure from public exchequer to eulogise themselves or enhance their public image.
The EC has also constituted screening committees in the states, headed by chief secretaries, to examine proposals made by the state governments for concessions to be made. Only those proposals that are cleared by the screening committees can be forwarded to the commission for approval.
