Assam Congress moves ECI accusing state govt of violating model code of conduct

The Assam Congress has written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by using the images of the Prime Minister and the chief minister in government advertisements ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah, in a letter sent to CEC Rajiv Kumar on Monday, said, “This is to bring to your notice that despite the Model Code of Conduct coming into force, the Government of Assam has not yet removed advertisements and publicity material with the photographs of Prime Minister, Chief Minister etc.”
He further wrote, “This is a gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct. You are hereby requested to take appropriate action immediately.”
The ECI on March 16 announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections, according to which the polling in 14 seats of Assam will be conducted in three phases, Between April 19 and May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4, as per ECI.
The Congress said that as per the Model Code of Conduct, both the state and the central governments cannot use pictures of the Prime Minister, chief minister or any other elected representatives. But the Assam Government is continuing the use of such pictures in all corners, according to them.
There was no immediate response from the BJP on this.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday officially launched his campaign for Lok Sabha polls from Barak Valley where he talked about the local issues.
More than 2,500 Congress cadres on Sunday joined the BJP in Jorhat in the presence of minister Pijush Hazarika. According to the minister, a few more thousand Congress cadres are joining the BJP from various parts of Assam this week.