EC clears Big B's ads eulogising Mulayam govt

Lucknow, Mar 14 (UNI) In a setback to Congress in Uttar Pradesh, a state-level screening committee of the Election Commission today cleared four more ads of the ruling Samajwadi Party ahead of State Assembly elections.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi told reporters here that the screening committee had cleared four more SP ads. An ad of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan pertaining to crime rate in UP had already been cleared.

The four ads cleared today also have the Big B playing the lead role, sources close to the development claimed here.

Congress, meanwhile, has filed an appeal with the EC through the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking details of the affidavit filed by SP before the EC as per a Supreme Court guideline for the ads.

On Monday, Congress had urged the EC to ban tax-free screening of Abhishek Bachchan starrer 'Guru' as it amounted to the violation of the model code of conduct ahead of assembly elections.

In a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner, Congress claimed that since Jaya Bachchan was a Samajwadi Party MP and the Big B himself was carrying out a TV campaign in favour of the ruling SP, the tax-free screening of 'Guru' should be banned immediately.

The memorandum claimed that all other films starring the Bachchans, which were being screened tax free in UP should be banned.

UNI