SAD calls off pre-poll publicity blitz in Chandigarh after fire in van

The fire was said to have been caused by a short-circuit and was brought under control by the fire brigade.

A pre-election publicity blitz by the SAD-BJP ruling combine using LED vans was called off hours before a scheduled flag-off by Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia Thursday – after one of the vehicles caught fire.

The fire was said to have been caused by a short-circuit and was brought under control by the fire brigade.

Police and fire officials said all 49 vans were taken to the Sector 76 sports stadium for inspection. That is when smoke was seen coming out of the van. An employee opened the van’s doors to find a fire inside. The other vehicles were not damaged in the fire, which was brought under control by a fire tender.

[related-post]

Watch Video: What’s making news

After their planned flag-off by Majithia Thursday morning, the vans were to fan out across Punjab’s villages to spread word that the SAD-BJP government had carried out a number of development works during its tenure.

Earlier, publicity department officials said the fire had not affected the schedule, but late at night, Director Public Relations Senu Duggal said the the publicity drive had been called off “indefinitely”.

As the polls near, SAD is leaving nothing to chance to highlight its report card.

The party is using social media on a massive scale listing works carried out by it on social networking sites like Facebook and Pinterest.

Story continues below this ad

Very recently, it started to post “an achievement a day” on officials pages of parties on Facebook and Pinterest.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram