Unauthiorised posters, banners of leaders destroyed in Punjab

Sangrur, Jan 29 (UNI) Unauthorised election material, including posters and banners with photographs of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were destroyed today on the instructions of the local Returning Officer.

The unclaimed material which also contained photographs of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Prakash Singh Badal, Punjab Congress president Shamsher Singh Dullo and other political leaders was consigned to the flames here on the orders of the Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner S R Ladhar.

The material, lying unclaimed, had been seized by the district administration on Friday last from five printing presses in the town.

Addressing mediapersons here, Mr Ladhar said that the political parties or candidates who got this material printed had not followed the proper procedure and did not get the receipts for the payments made to the owners of the printing presses. The printing presses too had not followed the election guidelines and had not issued any bills while taking the printing order.

Mr Ladhar had on Friday last sealed the five printing presses.

However, today they were allowed to re-open after the owners forwarded written apologies to the Deputy Commissioner.

On the instructions of the Returning Officer, the civil and administrative officials also seized election posters from the possession of some local shopkeepers. The material had been printed in Haryana and Rajasthan and was meant for sale to political parties.

The Returning Officer who has been adopting a tough posture against candidates and parties violating the code of conduct has fixed the rates of posters, banners, party flags and symbols and other election-related material. He has also asked owners of hotels to intimate the rate at which rooms or banquet halls were being rented to political parties or to candidates.

Mr Ladhar is also keeping a close tag on the payments being made by candidates or political parties to owners of tent houses and the expenditure being incurred at election rallies. Mr Ladhar admitted that candidates were not quoting the actual rate at which election material was being purchased or services were being hired.

The Returning Officer had yesterday asked the district police chief to register cases against Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and a number of other candidates for defacing public property which was violative of the code of conduct. Mrs Bhattal is the Congress candidate from Lehra Gagga assembly constituency.

UNI