The move comes days after the state Congress lodged a complaint against Pathan for using photographs of Sachin Tendulkar and others to campaign in Baharampur, saying it violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Sources in the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) in West Bengal said that the poll panel made a detailed evaluation of the complaint and found merit in it. On Friday, the EC directed Pathan to remove all such photographs and posters that were put up in the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency. At the same time, the EC also asked him not to use the national flag during campaigning.

Following the poll panel’s directives, TMC workers started removing such posters Friday night.

In a letter to the West Bengal CEO on Wednesday the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee had demanded strict action against Pathan stating that using banners and posters of the 2011 cricket World Cup winning team was a gross violation of the MCC.

“This is to inform you that Yusuf Pathan has started using banners, posters and photos in different places in the said constituency. It clearly depicts the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2011, winning moments and high profile cricket celebrities including the likes of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar and others,” the party said in the letter to the CEO.

Bengal Congress president and the party’s Baharampur candidate Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had said Pathan was depicting the national cricket team’s win “as his own victory by using such photographs”.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pathan said that he did not go anywhere to put up his poster. “I have a lot of followers who can put up my photographs of winning the World Cup anywhere. They have the right to do so. I have not gone anywhere to put up my posters. Now the legal team will see whether there is any violation. But I had won the World Cup through hard work,” he said.

The Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be held in Baharampur in the fourth of the seven phases of polling on May 13. The result will be declared on June 4.