EC steers clears of surrogate ad controversy

Lucknow, Apr 11 (UNI) The Election Commission today preferred to steer clear of the controversy surrounding surrogate advertisements being issued in newspapers by various groups.

State additional chief electoral officer Mritunjaya Kumar Narain said here that the EC had nothing to do with the issue of surrogate advertisements.

''The effected party can, on its own, lodge an FIR under section 127(A) of the Representation of People's Act...as per the Supreme Court guidelines, the EC can only monitor advertisements being aired on TV channels,'' he said.

A few days ago, the EC had issued notices to district administration to probe a Congress allegation that the ruling Samajwadi Party was sponsoring ads in the name of an organisation.

The advertisements, Congress had alleged, were presenting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a bad light.

Congress claimed that the advertisements, issued by Rashtrashanti Lok Manch, was in violation of the model code of conduct. ''The organisation named in the advertisements should come with the explanation on as to who sponsored the ads... It is clear that the advertisement campaign being run is sponsored by SP,'' the Congress letter read.

The additional CEO made the EC's position clear on surrogate advertisements to a poser on BJP-sponsored ads in West UP on Muslims.

UNI