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Poll code puts spanner on political themes at Ganesh mandals

Most mandals in the city had the theme of their pandals centered around ‘Modi power’ but had to drop the idea.

Kasba Peth-based artist Satish Taru has statues of Narendra Modi and Bal Thackeray among other political leaders ready but these are not likely to be used any more. (Source: Express photo by Pavan Khengre) Kasba Peth-based artist Satish Taru has statues of Narendra Modi and Bal Thackeray among other political leaders ready but these are not likely to be used any more. (Source: Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

With the model code of conduct for the ensuing Assembly polls set to come into force shortly, coninciding with the Ganesh festival, several mandals have had to shelve plans to display political themes during the celebrations. The model code of conduct is expected to kick in later this week.

Officer-bearers of the Ganesh mandals said many of them had plans to present political dekhavas (themes) at the site of Puja pandals but canned them after it became clear that the poll code would be in place during the festival to be celebrated from August 29 to September 8.

Mahesh Limaye of Malhar Productions, which caters to themes for prominent Ganesh mandals in the city, said there was a lot of enthusiasm, especially among BJP workers, to showcase dekhavas based on life and ideas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but these had to be dropped.

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“Several mandals had discussed with me ideas about creating dekhavas related to Modiji. A few of these were finalised also. There was a group, which wanted to make a dekhava about ‘Narendra Modi’s Idea of India’, another wanted to chronicle Modi’s life from a tea vendor to the PM of the country. We changed these ideas, with other social themes,” said  Limaye.

Shukrawar Peth-based Seva Mitra Mandal had plans to showcase how Modi used the social media platforms to convey his ideas and spread his message among the young voters. “It would have been an interesting dekhava but after the model code issue came up, we decided to change the subject to ‘Social Media: Good or Evil’,” said an office-bearer.

Festive offer

Kasba Peth set-maker Satish Taru said others who wanted to showcase subjects like “10 most corrupt leaders in the country”, “biggest corruption scandals” and “Belgaum issue” were also changed because of the fear of inviting the ire of the Election Commission.

He added that small mandals who immerse the Ganpati idols within two-three days may go ahead with their plans. “I have one order to make statues of political leaders, including Modi and Balasaheb Thackeray. But there will be very few political dekhavas this year,” he added.

First uploaded on: 27-08-2014 at 03:56 IST
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