Don't use plastic during poll campaign: EC urges candidates

New Delhi, Sep 21: In an appeal to political parties, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora stressed on the use of environment-friendly campaign materials during elections.

"Election campaigns impose an environmental cost upon us. We appeal to political parties to avoid the use of plastic and use only environment-friendly material in their campaigns," said CEC Sunil Arora.

In an Independence Day speech on Aug 15, Modi urged people and government agencies to "take the first big step" on Oct 2 towards freeing India of single-use plastic.

The UN defines single-use plastic as items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These include, among other items, grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery.

A ban on certain plastics from Oct 2, however, will come just weeks ahead of big Hindu festivals for which business plans are laid out far in advance because they typically see a sharp rise in consumer purchases.