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Poll cloud over NDA Govt.'s celebrations

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI OCT. 11. The coming Assembly elections appear to have spoilt the plans of the current dispensation at the Centre to celebrate its four years in office for fear of violating the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct.

With the Commission announcing the poll schedule exactly a week before the National Democratic Alliance Government turned another year, the burden of the last-minute change of plans is being felt most by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Weeks of preparation by the Press Information Bureau in putting together the achievements of the Government since last October 13 seem to have gone waste as the Ministry has no intention of coming out with its traditional compilation of "milestones".

But with the Publications Division — a media unit of the I&B Ministry — on Friday postponing the release of a biography on Ram Manohar Lohia as part of its `Builders of Modern India' series to avoid "incurring the wrath of the Election Commission", the likelihood of the compilation of the Government's achievements being released or even published appears remote.

According to Ministry sources, the maximum that the Government has done this time round is to bring out a series of advertisements called `India Shining' which has appeared in some leading national dailies over the past couple of days.

Despite an announcement made by the Union Minister of State for I&B, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Wednesday, officials were particularly wary of attracting any publicity for the inauguration of Hall No. IV at the Siri Fort on Friday for fear that it would be considered violative of the code of conduct.

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