No print ads without prior clearance during silence period in K'taka: EC to parties

No party or candidate shall publish any advertisement in the print media on poll day and one day prior without clearance from the media certification and monitoring committee, the Election Commission said on Sunday in an advisory ahead of the May 10 voting in Karnataka.

Campaign for the Karnataka assembly elections is set to end on Monday.

In the advisory to political parties, the poll authority also emphasised on "clean and serious" campaign as electioneering reached feverish pitch for the polls.

In a separate letter to editors, the Election Commission (EC) made it clear to them that the Press Council of India's norms for journalistic conduct hold them responsible for all matters, including advertisements, published in their newspapers.

"If responsibility is disclaimed, this shall be explicitly stated beforehand," the Commission said in a letter to editors of newspapers in Karnataka.

The advisory to political parties stated that advertisements during the silence period -- on the election day and one day prior to the poll day -- will have to be pre-certified by the media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC).

"No political party or candidate or any other organisation or person shall publish any advertisement in the print media on poll day and one day prior to poll day unless the contents of political advertisement are got pre-certified by them from the MCMC at the state/district level, as the case may be," the advisory stated.