Bhubaneswar: Authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport on Monday served a show cause notice to an advertisement agency for putting up posters of BJP president Amit Shah during his visit to the state on Sunday.

Two gigantic posters of Shah were put up in the airport's domestic terminal.

Airport director S.C. Hota said the advertisement agency had been asked to give its explanation within three days. "The agency is authorised to put up posters at the airport. The airport is not a place to endorse any political party. So I have asked the agency seeking a reply as to under what circumstances they put up the posters," said Hota.

The airport authorities swung into action after Congress activists barged in to the office of the director on Monday afternoon.

"How can the airport authorities endorse one particular party? If the posters have been put up with the consent of the airport authorities, they should disclose the amount of money needed to put up posters so that we can also put up our posters. If this is illegal, then the advertising agency must be punished," said the Congress' Bhubaneswar district unit president Manas Choudhury.

The BJD and the Opposition BJP have locked horns several times in the recent past over posters and banners in the city. In July, last year the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had removed BJP flags, hoardings, banners and cut-outs of Amit Shah from the area around Kalinga Stadium during the Asian Athletics Championship. The civic body had claimed that they pulled up the BJP as it had not taken prior permission from them to erect the hoardings and the banners.

Similarly, in February, the civic body slapped a Rs 1 crore penalty on the Petroleum Conservation Research Association, the organiser of a cyclothon event in the city, for putting up hoardings in prohibited areas. The civic body had cited that the organiser had violated the advertising norms by not taking prior permission from them.