The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to intervene into the proposal of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit to paint party symbol (lotus) in polling stations.
In a memorandum to the ECI submitted through the Chief Election Officer (CEO) of Nagaland, NPCC vice president Khriedi Theünuo highlighted that as per election guidelines there should be no political party office within 200 meter of a polling station.
Under such circumstances, NPCC said BJP Nagaland president issuing directive to the state BJP legislators to paint the party symbol in all polling stations was a clear violation of the election guideline.
NPCC also said the proposed move also attracts the provision of election guidelines for defacement of public places.
The NPCC, therefore, urged the ECI to direct the state district election officers, who were responsible for the provision of polling stations and the publication of the list of polling stations, to immediately act on the said directive of BJP state president and not to include polling stations which were painted with BJP symbol in the list of polling stations.