The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it would request the Election Commission to reconsider its directive banning election-related advertisements by the central government.
The EC had held that the advertisements, marking the completion of four years by the National Democratic Alliance government, were in "clear violation" of the model code of conduct. It had also barred the government of Chhattisgarh, where elections will be held on December 1, from distributing schoolbags embossed with Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's photograph.
Elections 2003: The Complete Coverage
"The BJP feels that the central government's development programmes publicised through advertisements will not benefit the party during the assembly elections. They should not be linked to the polls," party general secretary and spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in New Delhi.
"The Planning Commission had clearly emphasised that the failures of the Ninth Plan was because of the inadequate knowledge about the development programmes," he said.
"It is the Centre's responsibility that for the people's welfare, these programmes must be adequately publicised.
"The central government's advertisements do not carry the photographs of (National Democratic Alliance) leaders. They are for the welfare of the people," he said.
Naqvi also said the Congress government in Chhattisgarh had not followed the EC directive.