A video of a heated confrontation between former Minister Harin Fernando and the Bandarawela police went viral yesterday
Fernando was spotted campaigning with supporters while wearing T-shirts that looked like the international footballer Lionel Messi’s jersey, which bore the legend’s number—the same number that the Election Commission had given Fernando.
“Harin drags Messi into the mess of the poll”
On the grounds that the t-shirts were an indirect form of election campaigning, the police and Election Commission officials stepped in and ordered Fernando’s supporters to take them off.
A powerful argument erupted as Fernando and his supporters insisted that the t-shirts had no connection to do with the election. The T-shirts, according to the police and Election Commission officials, were an effort at deceptive political campaigning since they made a symbolic a reference to Fernando’s candidacy.
