'DD can't air films of candidates'

The election officer's reference was to two popular actors of Bengali cinema Tapas Pal and Biplab Chatterjee.

With the model code of conduct in force in poll-bound West Bengal, Doordarshan cannot air films or serials in which candidates for elections have acted, chief electoral officer of West Bengal Debasish Sen said in Kolkata on Sunday.

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His reference was to two popular actors of Bengali cinema Tapas Pal and Biplab Chatterjee who are fighting each other in the assembly elections in Kolkata.

Sen clarified that as per an act of 1989, the government-run television channel cannot air any such film or serial wherein a candidate for the election has acted, while answering a query of scribes with reference to the two actors.

Pal, who had played hero to Madhuri Dixit in her debut Hindi film Abodh, is Trinamool Congress candidate from the prestigious Alipore constituency in the metropolis and challenging him is CPI(M)'s Biplab Chatterjee who has played the role of villain to perfection in many cinemas, including Satyajit Ray's thriller Joy Baba Felunath.

Sen, however, clarified there is no such bar on private television channels.