Lucknow
Big news has come out for cricket fans, in fact, the Election Commission has dropped Indian cricketer Rinku Singh out of the voter awareness campaign. He has directed to remove all promotional materials including his name, photos and videos with immediate effect. However, there is no confirmation of why the Election Commission has removed him. At present, political rhetoric about this news has intensified.
According to the information received, this decision came when Rinku Singh recently got engaged to Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Priya Saroj. The Commission has expressed concern over the fairness of the campaign, considering this relationship as a political engagement. Because of this, Rinku Singh has been removed by the Commission.
Political relationship changed the form of publicity: Commission
The Election Commission clarified that complete fairness is necessary in sensitive and non-political campaigns like voter awareness. Since Rinku Singh is now individually associated with an active politician, his publicity may create a possibility of bias. On this basis, the Commission has directed the district administration to remove the photographs and names of Rinku from all posters, banners, digital advertisements and videos.
The engagement in Lucknow, SP’s top leaders were also involved
On 8 June, Rinku Singh and SP MP Priya Saroj were engaged at the ‘The Sentrum’ hotel in Lucknow. More than 20 party MPs including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Jaya Bachchan were present in this private ceremony. Since this engagement, there was speculation that Rinku’s name could now be added to political contexts, which will also affect his image.
Mixed response on social media regarding decision
After the decision, fans of Rinku Singh have given mixed reactions on social media.
Some people have termed the move as “excessive vigilance”, while some said that political misuse of popular celebrities is necessary to stop. However, it is also believed that with such a decision, the Election Commission is trying to bring out its fair and strict attitude, especially when the country is preparing for the upcoming elections.
Public faces have been removed earlier also
This is not the first time that the Election Commission has removed a public figure from the campaign. Earlier, the Commission has taken action in cases where the political affiliation of someone could have questioned the fairness of the campaign.
No response from Rinku and Priya so far
Neither on this whole incident nor any formal statement from Rinku Singh nor from MP Priya Saroj has come out. However, this decision is being seen as a strict message before the upcoming elections in political corridors.
