Taking cognisance of the reports that the political parties had continued their publicity through advertisements in electronic and print media during the no-campaign period before the first and second phase of the Assembly polls in the state, the Election Commission (EC) on Monday asked the political parties to stop airing and publishing those advertisements or otherwise face punishment.
State joint chief electoral officer Dibyendu Sarkar said, “Such advertisements of the political parties in electronic and print media during the no-campaign period are a clear violation of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and is punishable with imprisonment of maximum two years or fine or both. We have issued notices to all the political parties to stop the advertisements during the no-campaign period in those places where polling will be held in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth phases.”
According to the EC, the no-campaign period in a constituency starts 48 hours before the end of polling in that particular constituency. “All the constituencies in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas will go to polls on April 27. No-campaign period has started in these constituencies from 5 pm on Monday.