Coimbatore Corporation began implementing the Model Code of Conduct on Thursday morning by removing hoardings and advertisement boards and whitewashing messages painted on walls. The civic body also masked Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s photograph on the name boards of budget canteens, Amma Unavagam, and herbal canteen.
According to the Principal Assistant Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation, S. Sivarasu, the civic body began the process on Thursday. It deployed almost all the conservancy staff. It also asked its sanitary supervisors and sanitary inspectors to supervise the job.
The process that began in the morning continued well into the afternoon. As of Thursday evening, the workers had removed hundreds of hoardings and advertisement boards, most of which belonged to political parties. It also removed advertisement boards of some private commercial establishments.
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The removal operation went on at 124 places across Coimbatore city.
The Corporation also masked the Chief Minister’s photograph on name boards of eateries, following instructions from the Election Commission. The civic body masked the word, ‘Amma’, from signboards, although the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, had sought clarification regarding this from the Election Commission.
Official sources in all the five zones of the Corporation said that the workers were whitewashing graffiti on roads, lanes and by-lanes first.
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They would clean the main thoroughfares on Friday. They said that the Corporation was spending for the operation from its coffers and did not ask the political parties to meet the cost of white paint.
Our Tirupur Staff Reporter writes:
With the Model Code of Conduct having come into force, MLA (Tirupur South) K. Thangavel of CPI (M) has temporarily shifted his constituency office to ‘Thyagi Palanisamy Nilayam’, situated on Tirupur-Avinashi Road.
A press release issued here said that the office was functioning from a Tirupur Corporation-owned building and hence, had been shifted.
The people who wanted to visit the MLA were asked to contact him at the new office and through telephone 0421-2265009.
The people could also communicate with the MLA through e-mail. (mlatiruppursouth@ gmail.com)