Bangalore, April 10: Amidst loud demand for halting of screening of commercials featuring Kannada actor Sudeep, who is campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified that there will be no restrictions.
The ECI cleared the air and stated that only actors who are contesting elections or campaigning on Doordarshan, which is funded by public money, can be barred from commercial screenings.
It may be recalled that on April 5, Sudeep announced that he would campaign for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the upcoming Assembly elections. The ECI’s announcement came after several petitions were filed seeking a ban on the screening and telecast of movies, shows, and commercials featuring Sudeep until the elections are over.
The JD(S) national spokesperson, Tanveer Ahmed had also said that no person with affiliation to a particular party should be shown on the big screen or any audio-visual medium.
Sudeep has emphasised that his support is solely for CM Bommai and not for the BJP. The actor had said that he has a personal connection with Bommai and was standing in support of the CM and others with his support. This comes amid a campaign within the BJP to promote Bommai as the face of the party, despite the party’s decision not to project a Chief Ministerial candidate before the upcoming elections. The campaign, with the slogan ‘Matthome BJP, Matthomme Bommai’, aims to gain support for the Chief Minister.
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