BHUBANESWAR : The State Election Commission has taken strong exception to some advertisements issued by the Union Ministries of Rural Development and Human Resource Development saying that those amounted to violation of the model code of conduct that was in force for the coming panchayat polls.

The advertisements were published in some newspapers in the State.

The Secretary of the Commission has written to the two ministries saying that the advertisements were likely to influence the voters.

Till the time the model code of conduct was in force no advertisement should be published by the Centre or State Government to highlight the achievements of any department, the Commission said.

The publication of the photograph of Union Minister Chandra Shekhar Sahu in the advertisement, who hailed from the State, would directly influence the voters and would hamper the conduct of free and fair poll, it said.

Stating that such advertisements should not be issued till the model code of conduct was in force, the Commission asked the Central Ministries to give their response within a week.

The Commission further asked the Union Ministries not to issue any such advertisement till the code of conduct was in force. The code will be in force till February 21.

According to an official released on Friday, the commission has also drawn the attention of the Union Cabinet Secretary on the issue and said that no ministry should issue any such advertisement that would amount to violation of the model code of conduct.

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