EC asks parties not to publish any ad in papers tomorrow

The Election Commission (EC) has directed that no advertisements shall be published in the poll-bound Bihar tomorrow unless its contents are ratified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the state or district level.

The poll body has issued a notification in this regard to all the newspapers in the state.

The grand alliance earlier today lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against an advertisement issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A day before Bihar votes in the fifth and final phase of the assembly elections, the BJP gave a prominent ad in newspapers featuring a woman hugging a cow, attacking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his silence over statements made by his allies on beef.

Last week, the EC had directed all national, state and registered political parties contesting the Bihar elections to send a copy of the material furnished for publication in the print media to the Chief Electoral Officer and the District Election Officer (DEO) for clearance.