The three municipal corporations of Delhi have pulled down almost 500,000 political posters, banners, flexes, boards and hoardings since the Model Code of Conduct for the Delhi Assembly Elections came into force on January 6. Officials said these advertisements were from different political parties, including the BJP, AAP, and Congress.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation claims to have removed 240,000 such “poll-publicity related material”, highest of which was in its Rohini zone. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) removed 180,000 posters, with maximum such objects removed from its ‘South Zone’ that includes areas like Ambedkar Nagar, Aya Nagar, Chirag Delhi, Lado Sarai, etc.; and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said it removed 64,000 such items.
“After orders from the Election Commission, we deployed all our staff from 8 in the morning to 8 in the night every day to get all poll-canvassing material removed,” said Radha Krishan, spokesperson, SDMC.
“The logic behind this is that voters should not be influenced by any political candidate claiming kinship on the grounds of caste, region or religion; by way of festive greetings, new schemes or offers by political parties just ahead of elections,” a senior official of the north Delhi municipality explained.
“Months or weeks before the day of voting, people should have a clear head on whom they want to vote for and no confusion should be created by last-minute publicity or announcements. Our efforts are all aimed in that direction,” an East Delhi Municipal Corporation official, who requested anonymity, said.
