An all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday decided not to deny political parties and religious and cultural organisations the “opportunity” to campaign using publicity materials, including flags, banners and hoardings.
The discussion that was held through video conference endorsed the demand to permit the hanging of festoons on footpath in connection with festivals and conferences without obstructing public movement. The meeting was held in the wake of the Kerala High Court expressing displeasure over the practice of erecting flag posts and other materials that inconvenienced citizens.
While adopting a stance in favour of erecting such items, the all-party meeting supported using them on private walls and compounds with the consent of respective owners. The organisers will, however, have to specify the exact period of their usage as well as provide an undertaking on removing them within a specific time-frame.
The right of way of pedestrians and motorists should not be impeded by banners and advertisement boards under any circumstances, the meeting resolved. The proposals that were presented by the Chief Minister were unanimously approved by the participants. The meeting decided to entrust the Advocate General with presenting the decisions of the meeting as public opinion at the High Court.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Law Minister P. Rajeeve and Chief Secretary V.P. Joy participated in the meeting.
The political representatives included A. Vijayaraghavan [CPI(M)], Mariapuram Sreekumar (Congress), P.K. Kunhalikutty (IUML), E. Chandrasekharan (CPI), Stephen George [Kerala Congress(M)], Mons Joseph (Kerala Congress), Mathew T. Thomas [Janata Dal (Secular)], K.R. Rajan (NCP), Ramachandran Kadannappally [Congress(S)], Shaji Philip [RSP(Leninist)], C. Krishnakumar (BJP), V. Surendran Pillai (Loktantrik Janata Dal) and P.C. Joseph (Janadhipathya Kerala Congress) participated in the discussion.
