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Updated: Mar 13, 2019 15:22 IST

The blue and green coloured dustbins, installed across Himachal Pradesh under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, have raised the hackles of the Congress.

For, over 6,000 dustbins display names of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha members from the state — Anurag Thakur, Shanta Kumar, Virender Kashyap and Ram Swaroop Sharma. The dustbins were installed at a cost of Rs 2.66 crore by public sector Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited under its corporate social responsibility programme.

With the model code of conduct in force after the announcement of schedule for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has asked the election commission to remove the bins. “We have filed a complaint with the election commission,” said Congress general secretary Rajnish Kimta, adding that the party had constituted a panel to keep tab on violation of the code of conduct.

He said the party leaders had objected to government move and were raising the matter during its rallies and meetings in the last one year. “The dustbins were installed for publicity sake as the BJP Lok Sabha members had failed to deliver on ground,” Kimta added.

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Not only the Congress, some BJP leaders had also opposed the names of party MPs on the dustbins when they were installed in different parts of the state. Former chief minister Lok Sabha member Shanta Kumar had asked the Kangra district administration to remove the dustbins with his name.

An election commission (EC) official said the panel had “officially” not received any compliant on dustbins. “The commission has already ordered government departments to remove all publicity hoarding and banners, “said Neeraj Kumar Sharma, officer-on-special duty at the EC office in Shimla.

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