EC asks Sonia to remove posters from Govt houses

EC sources said Congress chief has been served with a notice asking her to remove within 12 hours all posters.

Taking a tough line, the Election Commission on Friday night asked Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, a candidate for Rae Bareli Lok Sabha bypoll, to have removed all the posters of her party from government buildings by early Saturday morning.

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In another move that could include Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the poll watchdog ordered political functionaries getting security from the state government to leave the constituency immediately after the campaign is over.

EC sources said the Congress chief has been served with a notice asking her to remove within 12 hours all posters of her party from government buildings in the constituency.

The 12-hour deadline ends at 4 am on Saturday since the notice was given to her at 4 pm on Friday.

The EC has asked political functionaries, who have been provided security by the state government, if they are not voters, to leave the constituency immediately after the electioneering gets over at 5 pm on Saturday.

But this would not apply to candidates and their agents, the sources said.

Rahul Gandhi is neither a voter of Rae Bareli and his sister Priyanka is Sonia Gandhi's poll agent in the constituency.