Ticket aspirants deface public properties with posters, banners

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 7

With the emergence of a large number of ticket seekers in each of the Assembly segments, a kind of poster war has erupted among them. Aspirants are putting up their pictures on all available spaces in the city and the districtrict, resulting in severe defacement of public properties. There are a total of nine Assembly segments in Faridabad and Palwal districtrict at present.

“Hundreds of posters ,banners and hoardings have appeared on electric poles, streetlights, tree guards, road dividers, walls, buildings, etc., on almost every road or locality in the city,’’ says AK Gaur, a resident. He adds while the allotment of ticket to candidates by various political parties is still far away, aspirants have flooded city roads with their posters in an illegal and unauthorised manner. “While the majority of posters have been put on the public spots like the electricity and streetlights poles, some of them have also been pasted on traffic lights at many places, resulting in hindrance to the traffic movement,’’ says Narender Sirohi, another resident.

“Besides putting up posters, the ticket hopefuls are holding door-to-door and personal campaigning in their respective constituencies even their candidature is not certain,” says Yogesh Sharma, a former MLA, adding the number of such aspirants has been rising with each passing day as there are many who try their luck due to their connections and resources.

Putting up publicity material at public places is considered as a vital step to project oneself as an aspirant. Photos along with top or senior leaders claiming allegiance to political bosses help aspirants escape the action by civic officials, according to sources in the districtrict administration.

Though the official notification by the Election Commission against the defacement of public properties is expected to come just a few weeks ahead of the elections, the civic authorities have been too slow in removal of such material from the public places. Only a handful of unauthorised publicity material has been removed by the civic authorities, though the campaigning in an indirect manner by several candidates had been going on for the past about two months.

Meanwhile, the districtrict administration has imposed a ban on flying of drones and proper verification of the people staying in hotels and guest houses in wake of the election process in the districtrict.

Officials go slow on removal of hoardings

• Photos along with top leaders claiming allegiance to political bosses help ticket seekers escape the action by civic officials, according to sources in the districtrict administration
• Though the official notification by the EC against the defacement of public properties is expected to come a few weeks ahead of the elections, civic authorities have been too slow in removal of such hoardings from the public places