Bihar polls: EC seeks explanation over BJP's beef advertisement

Patna: Taking strong exception to BJP’s advertisement on beef in some vernacular dailies in Bihar on Wednesday, the Election Commission has issued notice to the party seeking explanation. “Our attention has been drawn to the said advertisements published by BJP in Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur editions of some newspapers… These advertisements are against the EC’s instruction to political parties and newspapers,” Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Laxmanan told reporters in Patna. [caption id=“attachment_2495362” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BJP Beef advertisement. Twitter/@AmanKayamHai[/caption] Bihar BJP chief Mangal Pandey has been served a notice seeking an explanation over the said advertisement, he added. The BJP advertisement had questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s “silence” on “repeated insult” to cows by grand alliance leaders as the animal is revered by the countrymen and asked had asked him to come clean on the issue and stop playing vote bank politics. The advertisement also asked the Chief Minister whether he agreed with the remarks on beef eating by his “friends” from alliance partners, including Lalu Prasad and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of RJD and Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader S Siddaramaiah. Earlier in the day, a grand alliance delegation comprising JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi and Congress spokespersons RPN Singh and Ajoy Kumar met the EC in New Delhi, alleging that the advertisement amounted to “seeking votes in the name of religion” in the fifth and last phase of polling on Thursday in 57 seats. Laxmanan said despite the statutory direction of the EC through its letter, dated October 31, to all political parties, certain advertisements of “offending nature” published in some prominent newspapers in Bihar on Wednesday have been brought to its notice. To ensure that no such instance is repeated on the day of poll and no untoward incident takes place because of any inflammatory or hate advertisements, the EC in exercise of its powers under Article 324 of Constitution and all other powers enabling it has directed that no political party or candidate or any other organization or person shall publish any advertisement in the newspapers tomorrow unless its contents are pre-certified, he said. Similar direction have also been issued to all newspapers in Bihar, Laxmanan said. PTI