Taking full advantage of the 17th death anniversary of Biju Patnaik on Thursday, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been named after him and has been thriving on his legacy, released a full-page advertisement in all major newspapers in the State in his memory apparently to influence voters on the polling day.
The advertisement, however, had the approval of the Chief Electoral Officer, sources said. It may be mentioned that under the model code of conduct advertisements by political parties and candidates are banned 48 hours before the polling date.
In no previous year, the BJD had issued paid advertisement, let alone a full-page one and that too on the front page of newspapers at whopping extra costs, to mark the occasion.A BJD leader said it was a blessing in disguise for the party and its leader Naveen Patnaik that the Biju Patnaik death anniversary fell on the last and crucial phase of polling in the State.
Odisha Jan Morcha president Pyarimohan Mohapatra urged Chief Electoral Officer Mona Sharma to take action against the BJD for giving advertisements with photographs of Biju Patnaik on the poll day on Thursday.“We do not recollect a single occasion of Bijubahu’s death anniversary in the past 17 years that the BJD had issued any full page advertisement with his photographs. The reason this time for such huge advertisement is obvious,” Mohapatra said this in a letter to Sharma.
Opining that repeated violations of model code of conduct on the poll day should call for drastic punishment like invalidating the result of the candidates in the second phase, Mohapatra urged Sharma to take action and set an example.