Day after Jaitley road show in Amritsar, EC comes out with notice
A day after the chaotic road show of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate Arun Jaitley, the district election authorities on Wednesday issued a notice to the Akali-BJP combine for smearing the city with hoardings and banners for his welcome.
A day after the chaotic road show of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate Arun Jaitley, the district election authorities on Wednesday issued a notice to the Akali-BJP combine for smearing the city with hoardings and banners for his welcome.
District election officer and deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat has confir med that “flags, banners, hoardings, and welcome gates exceeded the number permitted”.
All material, including every balloon and firecracker, will be counted and the cost added to the party’s campaign expenditure. The district presidents of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP have been served the notice.
The Congress, SAS-BJP’s opponent in the race, had also alleged violation of the model code of conduct for the elections and on Tuesday filed a complaint with the DC. To greet Jaitley on his first visit to Amritsar after getting the ticket from the constituency, the state’s ruling alliance had erected hoardings and banners on even government buildings.
Rendered helpless, the Police could only assist the road show by blocking some roads, even if that put commuters into discomfort. Since Jaitley’s cavalcade had lot of vehicles, it created a traffic jam wherever it went, and also caused an accident wherein firecrackers burst gas balloons and the blast injured 10 people, including Punjab cabinet minister Anil Joshi.
LEADER’S CAMPAIGN TO BEGIN AT ATTARI
After the road show in Amritsar, BJP candidate Arun Jaitley is all padded up for the inaugural rally of his first Lok Sabha election campaign, which will be in Attari on Friday.
Apart from senior state leaders of the BJP and the SAD, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal will also address the rally.