New Delhi: The Election Commission yesterday asked authorities in Varanasi to file an FIR against Congress candidate Ajay Rai for displaying the party symbol at a polling booth there.
Rai, the Congress candidate from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, walked into a polling station with the party symbol ‘hand’ pinned to his kurta.
Election law bans the use of any party symbol within 100 metres of a polling station.
The commission directed the Varanasi returning officer to file an FIR under sections 123 and 130 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 against Rai for displaying the party symbol and “conversation with media in the nature of canvassing at polling booth in Varanasi”, the Election Commission directive said.
Dressed in a cream coloured kurta pyjama, Rai walked into the polling station early in the day to cast his vote.
He was accompanied by his wife and he spoke to reporters within 10 metres of the polling station, which again was a breach of law.
Recently, an FIR was lodged against Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi when he addressed a press meet outside a polling station in Gujarat and clicked a selfie with the party symbol ‘lotus’ in his hand.
The district administration had then clarified that Modi was well outside the 100 metres banned distance when the press conference took place.
Actor Sarat Pujari passes away at 80
Bhubaneswar: Odia film actor Sarat Pujari died at his rented house here early yesterday following a heart attack.
Odisha governor S C Jamir and chief minister Naveen Patnaik and scores of film celebrities from the state mourned the sudden death of the 80-year-old.
“He suffered a massive cardiac arrest at about 12.30am,” his son Soumen Pujari, who is also an actor, said.
Sarat is survived by his widow, two daughters and two sons. His last rites will be performed in the temple town of Puri, about 55 km from Bhubaneswar, later in the day. Known for his versatile acting, he entered the Odia film industry in 1958 while serving as a teacher in a private college in western Odisha. He acted in about 50 films.
IANS
