Election Commission in Bihar make printing business incur losses

PATNA - Printing business incurred losses ahead of the elections in Bihar, as the Election Commission of India has prohibited handbills and posters for advertising during the electoral campaigns.

A press owner, Ramesh Mishra, said that due to the poor demand, rates for printing have also been slashed massively.

“Earlier, we used to get orders to print many posters for which we used to work day and night. But now, due to Election Commission, we are facing many problems, as there are small orders to print a few handbills or so. We are labour-class people, we highly depend on this income to clear our extra debts, which is not possible now,” said Mishra.

People in Bihar feel that the restrictions put by the Election Commission have made the pre-election environment very dull.

“According to me, it (advertisement through posters) is very necessary to spread awareness about the candidates and their party,” said Naresh, a local resident.

Senior leader of the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) Prakash Karat said that the restrictions put by the Commission is going to be hard on the pocket of those political parties that do not spend much on electoral campaigns.

“The restriction on electoral advertisement like party’s flag, posters, handbills, would restrain those political parties who don’t want to spend much money on elections,” said Prakash Karat.

Polls for 35 assembly seats in Bihar are going to be held on November 9. By Aditya Kumar Jha (ANI)