Political banners shouldn’t be allowed in the first place

File pic

With the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) announced by the Election Commission early this week, the BMC has started taking action against illegal political hoardings and banners across the city. Citizens can complain regarding unauthorised political hoardings on the Cvigil App and voter helpline number ‘1950'. Complaints made on the app are resolved within 100 minutes, according to a report.

The report also cited that the BMC's Licensing Department removed 7,389 posters, hoardings, banners, flags etc. within 48 hours till Thursday evening. These include 3,703 banners, 1,331 flags 942 posters, 817 panels and 596 cut-out hoardings.

Unauthorised banners should not be put up anywhere while the MCC is in force. The administration said that advertisement boards, posters and banners can be displayed only after obtaining permission.

While this action has been taken thanks to the Code of Conduct, one has to wonder why it is not applicable even when this Code is not on.

The recent festive season saw the city plastered with posters of different political leaders. They were literally jumping out at us, at every juncture, professing their love for the people. From underneath flyovers, high up on dividers, roadsides, even near signals dangerously close to obscuring them it was your local and national leader wishing everybody a happy this or that or the other.

The city was wallpapered with these posters, like it happens on other occasions. The festive season though sees this banner pasting at its peak. It is hard to imagine that permissions had been given for all these posters. They should have been removed at that time too. We cannot be waiting for a Code of Conduct to open avenues for complaints and move on removal. Sporadic action does not quite cut it.