Lok Sabha polls: Mistry wants prime advt locations on city roads, writes to EC

VADODARA: Congress candidate from Vadodara who is pitted against Narendra Modi, Madhusudhan Mistry has written to the district electoral officer Vinod Rao requesting him to reconsider the decision to allot 1,000 advertising locations to his party.

Mistry has demanded that he should be, instead, allotted advertisement kiosks at the prime locations, as given to his rival, Modi.

Mistry sent copies of the letter to Anita Karwal, chief electoral officer of Gujarat, and Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath.

EC had directed the district election officer to allot 1,000 advertisement locations to Congress yesterday.

In his letter today, Mistry said, "The issue is not about allotting of 1,000 advertisement locations...the real issue is 500 of 1,000 locations allotted to BJP candidate.

"...chief electoral officer has erred in... allocating the kiosks on the main city or outside city (to BJP)."

He said hardly about 10,000 people pass along the roads where Congress has been alloted locations for its posters, while BJP has got prime locations where "one lakh people pass every day".

"It gives a feeling that the BJP candidate Modi is favoured against the Congress candidate," he alleged.

"I request you to reconsider the decision and allocate 500 kiosks on electoral poles located in main city roads which are the prime road locations to us," he said.

Mistry was arrested yesterday (later released on bail) after he staged a sit-in and tried to paste his posters over that of Modi, and his supporters tore some BJP posters.