Thiruvananthapuram | The Election Commission has directed all political parties and candidates contesting in the Kerala Assembly polls on April 9, not to publish any advertisements in print media, on polling day and its eve, without getting the contents pre-certified by the MCMC committee.

The directive, issued by Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar late Friday night, stated that offending, misleading, or inflammatory advertisements published in print media during the final stages of an election can vitiate the entire electoral process.

"At such a critical juncture, affected parties and candidates often lack the opportunity to provide necessary rebuttals," it said.

Therefore, exercising the powers under Article 324 of the Constitution, the EC directed that no political party, candidate, organisation, or person shall publish any advertisement in print media on April 8 and 9 unless the contents are got pre-certified from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the state or district level as the case may be, the order issued by the CEO said.

Article 324 vests the power of superintendence, direction, and control of elections in the EC.

It further said that the applicants must submit their proposed advertisements to the state or district MCMC not later than two days prior to the date of publication of the advertisement.