Kochi: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has issued an order prohibiting display of campaign materials of political parties in premises and compounds of temples managed by it. The direction dated March 30 asks respective officers in charge of the temples to remove flags, flex boards, posters or notices if any pasted inside the compounds at the earliest.
“The step was taken to ensure that the temples are not turning into centres of political activities. The ban is applicable also for unions. We’ve appointed a special officer to oversee the activities,” said V S Jayakumar, TDB Secretary.
Strict action will be taken against those officials failing to enforce the ban and the Devaswom Commissi-oner has been entrusted to monitor the actions taken by all the respective temple office heads.
Similarly, the Executive Engineer (Thiruvananth-apuram) has been entrusted to remove flex boards and other election campaign materials exhibited at the Devaswom head quarters compound. “If protection is needed for carrying out the tasks, the services of the Superintendent of Police (Vigilance and Security) can be sought,” the order read.
The measure is expected to hit the BJP and other right wing parties. “We’re not acting against any particular political outfits. The ban is applicable even to service organisations and caste-based organisations,” Jayakumar said.
