Etawah Congress protests 'lotus on school walls'

AGRA: Painting 'lotus' on the walls of primary schools under Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) did not go down well with Congress leaders in Etawah.
The Congress has lodged a complaint with the chief election officer against the BJP for violating the model code of conduct.
In his complaint, Congress district president, Etawah, Uday Bhan Singh, said that the Election Commission has designated almost 80 percent of the district's primary schools as polling booths.
He also alleged that the local administration was supporting the BJP.
Singh added that 397 polling booths will be set up in primary schools - out of the total 448 in Jaswantnagar constituency. Similarly, there will be 441 in Bharthana constituency and 281 in Etawah city, out of the total 483 and 430 polling booths, respectively.
Acting on the Congress complaint, additional district magistrate, Gyan Prakash Srivastava, who is also additional election officer in Etawah, has asked the BSA to remove all the paintings and posters related to the party symbol 'lotus' from the schools' walls and report the matter within 24 hours.
Talking to TOI, Srivastava said that he has directed the BSA that strict action will be taken if the s ymbols are not removed immediately. Etawah BSA Ajay Kumar Singh said that it is true that 'lotus' and 'tiger' are being painted on the walls of the 1,775 existing schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme in the district due to its "national significance". However, it has been removed from all the schools now.
"If the lotus comes up in some other place, it will be immediately removed too," the Etawah BSA added.