Now that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force, can KSRTC buses continue to flaunt LDF government ads tattooed on their bodies with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's seemingly oil-painted smiling face? 

The Manual on Model Code of Conduct says no. But the CPM says that if these ads are removed, the central government ads featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi on all India trains passing through Kerala should also be taken down. 

Nonetheless, the Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala, Rathan U Kelkar, sternly played by the book. "We need to submit a compliance report to the Election Commission of India. Whatever has been mandated under the MCC will be strictly carried out," the CEO Kerala said during a meeting he had held with political parties in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

Here is what the Manual on MCC says under the sub-head 'Timeline for Removal of Unauthorized Defacement': "All unauthorized political advertisements, in the form of wall writings/posters/papers or defacement in any other form, cutouts/hoardings, banners/flags etc. at public property and in public space like railway stations, bus stands, airports, railway bridges, roadways, government buses, electric/telephone poles, municipal/local bodies’ buildings etc., shall be removed within 48 hours from the announcement of elections." Meaning, the ads with catchy one-liners celebrating the LDF government’s various achievements should be painted over or masked by March 17.

It was Congress's MK Rahman who raised the issue at the meeting. "The elections have been announced and government ads, both of the Centre and the state, are still in place in public spaces," Rahman said. "You claim that the MCC will be enforced rigorously. But the ads are still found on KSRTC buses, and also on television and All India Radio. I don't know whether it has come to the notice of the Commission," he told the CEO Kerala.

CPI's George Thomas apparently found this amusing. "I don't know why certain people are allergic to what they see on KSRTC buses. Advertisements and facts should be differentiated. Both are separate things," Thomas said, suggesting that KSRTC ads were just public information, not advertisements. 

K Jayakumar of RSP sounded puzzled. 
"I don't know on what basis he made these remarks. The announcement has come, but government ads are seen everywhere. I want to know what action the Commission would initiate to remove these, whether on KSRTC buses or public places," he said. "If you want to enforce the MCC strictly, these things have to be followed up," he said. 

CPM Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim was provoked. "If at all a decision is taken on advertisements, it has to be practical," Rahim said. "There is nothing illegal about a government putting out government ads through the PRD. If you want to remove these ads, what about the various trains that come to Kerala featuring the central government ads? If you remove the ads on KSRTC buses and ignore the ads on trains, wouldn't that look biased?" Rahim asked.

Interestingly, he painted both the central government ads on trains and the LDF ads on KSRTC buses with the same brush. "Both are legal," he said. "But if you remove the ads on KSRTC, you should ensure that all the ads on trains will also be removed," Rahim said.

The CEO Kerala avoided specifics and merely said that he would go by the Election Commission of India's Manual.

The Manual also states that "No wall writing, pasting of posters/papers or defacement in any other form, or erecting/displaying of cutouts, hoardings, banners, flags etc. shall be permitted on any Government premises (including civil structures). A 'Government premise' would include any government office and the campus wherein the office building is situated.

The Election Commission has also instructed that when the MCC is in force, all references to ministers, politicians or political parties on the state government’s official websites should be purged off.

The Kerala Government's official website now has only the photograph of Governor Rajendra Arlekar. The Chief Minister's photograph has been taken out.