Rashtrapati Bhavan unhappy at President's photos appearing in Cong hoardings, writes to EC

The Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday took strong exception to President Pranab Mukherjee's photographs appearing in some Congress hoardings in poll-bound Punjab and wrote to Election Commission to ensure that neutrality of his office "is not breached in any manner .

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, the President's Secretary Omita Paul referred to the news items in some national dailies which said that Mukherjee's pictures were displayed on Congress posters and these were under the EC scanner. "The news items also reported that the photo of the President in hoardings alongwith other leaders of a political party is being looked into by the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner and the District Election Officer for any possible violation of any law," Paul wrote.

She underlined that the President is above party politics and neither his photo nor anything related to him in his capacity as the President can or should be used for any political purposes. "All political parties should desist from ever linking the President to any political party in any manner for political goals," she said. "It is requested that necessary steps may be taken to ensure this neutrality of the Office of the President of India is not breached in any manner," Paul added.