AP polls begin October 28. Who removed TDP banners?

The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has scheduled polls in 100 urban local bodies for October 28, with counting on October 30. The election notification was issued on October 14, and the Model Code of Conduct came into force with it, according to reports citing the election schedule.

The rulebook is not especially mysterious. The Andhra Pradesh municipal election handbook says the code applies from the announcement of elections until the process ends. It also says that, when urban local-body elections are notified across the state, the code applies to urban areas, not automatically to rural Andhra Pradesh. The handbook covers political parties, candidates, ministers and public servants connected with the elections.

District officials in Visakhapatnam said they had ordered the removal of banners, posters, hoardings and other publicity material featuring political leaders and public representatives. That is at least an enforcement instruction on the record. In Guntur, however, a report alleged that flex banners featuring TDP leaders remained visible after the code took effect. The report did not establish the locations, number, timing or ownership of the banners, and said the alleged violation and any official action required confirmation.

That leaves the useful question: which displays were removed, where, when and under whose written order? The TDP, Guntur municipal authorities, the district election authority and the State Election Commission have not publicly answered that question in the material reviewed. The TDP government is happy to put its leaders on every available surface; the election machinery now has to show whether the rules apply to those surfaces too. A Model Code without an action register is just another Andhra announcement waiting for paperwork.