Tovino Thomas leads voter turnout as Kerala polls heat up
Actor Tovino Thomas casts his vote in Thrissur as Kerala records impressive voter turnout. Key constituencies see fierce electoral battles in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Kerala chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Monday that the state government would not comply with the Central government’s directive to display posters and banners of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at ration shops across the state.
Calling the directive an “election stunt”, the chief minister informed the state assembly that the state would reject the Centre’s direction to place Modi’s photograph at the ration shops.
“The public distribution system and ration shops have existed in Kerala for long. But the Union government has now issued an unprecedented directive at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are due ostensibly with an intention to use it election campaign. We will inform the Union government that we will not be implementing the directive citing these reasons,” CM Vijayan said.
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Earlier, the state had rejected a direction of the Centre for a branding programme at houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The direction was to display the PMAY logo at the houses.
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