Congress urges EC to stop chief ministers of poll-bound states from using public money for campaign yatras

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday urged the Election Commission to issue advisories to the chief ministers of poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to stop all public expenditure on ‘yatras’ undertaken by them. [caption id=“attachment_5149411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of a BJP ad. Reuters[/caption] Chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Legal and Human Rights department Vivek Tankha also urged the EC to issue “peremptory” orders to the Telengana chief secretary to ensure that no public money is utilised by caretaker government and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and no unfair publicity is given to the ruling party. This should also include taking off all hoardings, banners and advertisements, etc, he said in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat. Tankha, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, urged the EC to send an advisory to the chief secretaries of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh asking them to “stop all public expenditure on the ‘yatras’ of chief ministers” by whatever name they are conducted. He alleged that these states have indulged in rampant “extravagant publicity” by way of the Jan Ashirwad Yatra, Guarav Yatra and Vikas Yatra, respectively, at the state’s expense. These are party-motivated ‘yatras’ and have no element of public interest involved, he said. “I am sure such directions will go a long way to enhance the credibility of the Election Commission of India and our electoral system, which in the past has received international acclaim,” he said in his letter. He added that of late, people were witnessing an increased “propensity” by state governments and chief ministers to put in large advertisements in newspapers at public expenses. “It is an abhorrent practice and blatant misuse of public funds,” he added.