In Tiruchy, the Model Code of Conduct appears to arrive with a few selective flourishes. Nameboards of the DMK and AIADMK offices which come with party names, symbols and leader portraits, remain in plain sight. Yet, at Periya Milaguparai, the Communist Party of India (CPI)board was targeted, officials turning up ready to remove it before settling on shrouding it under a cloth after resistance. The question follows: if such rules apply, should they not apply uniformly? In election season, minor inconsistencies assume outsized significance, particularly when the principal players are involved.
Pearson Lenekar SR
Observers on a field trip
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has repeatedly stressed that IAS and IRS officers appointed as election observers must remain within their allotted constituencies. Yet, lapses appear to persist. On Saturday, vehicles marked “General Observer” were spotted at the Thanjavur Museum in the old collectorate building. Enquiries revealed the officers were not assigned to any constituency in Thanjavur district, but to neighbouring areas. Whether this was causal detour or an avoidable breach is unclear. Perhaps, one might quip, they were drawn out of curiosity about the famed “Kudavolai” system of Chola era.
N Ramesh