display of political adverts on buses banned
To conduct free and fair elections in Haryana, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed that State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses and buses owned by Municipal Corporations and other Government owned vehicles, not to be used for display of political advertisements during the period the Model Code of Conduct in Haryana. Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Shrikant Walgad said the SRTC buses were virtually under the control of State Government. The same is the case with vehicles of municipal corporations. Advertisement spaces on the buses of such corporations would be capable of being cornered by the ruling party or parties. “In such cases, it will not be practically impossible to ensure equitable sharing of space for the purpose of advertisements, both in terms of quantity as well as for particular bus routes passing through crowded areas, and those going through less crowded places. There is reasonable likelihood that the allotment of advertisement spaces on such vehicles is likely to be manipulated, especially in politically important constituencies, and, as such, it will not be easy to ‘ensure equitable distribution of advertisement space on the buses,” Walgad added.
360 nomination papers rejected in scrutiny
Haryana Electoral Office on Monday rejected as many as 360 nomination papers in the scrutiny, filed by various candidates to contest State Assembly polls on October 15. Now, the total numbers of candidates are 1565 including 1403 male and 162 female candidates. last date for withdrawal of candidature by candidates is by October 1. The polling will be held on October 15 and counting of votes on October 19. The process of elections would come to an end by Oct.
12 candidates get notice over ‘paid news’
Twelve candidates, contesting from four Assembly seats in Gurgaon, have been served notice by the Election Commission for ‘paid news’, an official said. Outgoing Haryana Youth and Sports Minister Sukhbir Kataria contesting as an Independent candidate from Gurgaon seat has been served notice for violating the model code of conduct. The other three candidates from this seat who have been served notice for ‘paid news’ are BJP’s Umesh Aggarwal, independent R.S. Rathi and Gaje Singh. The BJP candidate Rao Narbir Singh, Congress candidate Virender Singh and independent candidate Mukesh Sharma contesting from Badshahpur seat were also served same notices. From Sohana constituency, Tej Pal Tanwar of the BJP, Rohtash Bedi of the Congress, Kishore Yadav of the INlD and independent candidate Rohtash Khatana were issued notice for allegedly paying money to get news published in some papers. Indian National lok Dal (INlD) candidate from Pataudi has also been served such notice. The notices were issued on the recommendation of media certification and monitoring committee. The cost of these ‘paid news’ will be added to candidates’ poll expenditure.
