Parties go green in Surguja, dump plastic in campaigning

In a rare example in otherwise high-decibel technology-driven campaign, electioneering in tribal-dominated Surguja constituency in Chhattisgarh stood out because of political parties dumping plastic in a concern to environment.
Almost all parties in the fray in this scenic constituency unanimously avoided the use of plastic during the campaign and instead used flags and banners made of cloth and paper.
A total of 14 candidates are in fray in Surguja seat going to polls on April 24, campaigning for which is ending today.
Though they were acerbic in targeting their opponents during electioneering, the candidates, however, unanimously stuck to the proposal of not using plastic material.

"After the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, during a meeting with political parties the proposal of not using plastic was put forward keeping in mind the prevention of pollution," Surguja Collector and District Election Officer Ritu Sen told PTI.
In the meeting, the political candidates acknowledged that reckless use of plastic posed a threat to environment.

"Plastic hampers smooth flow of drainage system while cattle also die due to consumption of polythene bags. When the proposal was laid in the meeting, everybody gave their consensus and accepted it," she said.
The Collector said plastic was used in lesser quantity during electioneering this time here though there was no restriction as such on using the material made from it.

"We want the political parties that they should themselves take up the initiative. When the candidates filed their nominations they committed themselves to follow the proposal," she said.