Madurai: As the election season is gaining momentum, some villages in south Tamil Nadu are turning against political messaging. Othavidu in Madurai is a village where political advertisements, banners, flags, posters or messages of any kind are prohibited.Politicians enter the village and campaign for votes, but that’s all. The villagers do not accept gifts or freebies or allow any advertisements to be pasted in the village, whether on the walls of houses or in public places. P Pandi, a shopkeeper, said, “Apart from political posters, we also do not allow posters for religious or private events like festivals and weddings. If any such poster is stuck on the walls, the village elders ask them to remove it immediately.” He said that parties and campaigners respect the rules. Actually, these rules have been explained in a notice posted at the bus stand.“We follow these rules so that no one is influenced by the propaganda on posters and banners or has any allegiance to any particular flag,” says M Jayaraj, another resident. “When it comes time to vote, everyone takes their own decision, without influence from the rest of the village.” Jayaraj said. People returning home from other cities and districts to cast their votes are also following this rule.TOI found that just across the road from Othavidu, there is a signboard of a recent road development project with details of the plan. Krishnan, another villager, said, this signboard was not allowed to be put up within the village limits. “Only names of shops and their advertisements are allowed in the village,” he said.Other villages that follow similar rules on political messaging are Marudhanatham in Virudhunagar district, Kombuthi in Ramanathapuram and Balakrishnapuram in Theni.Murugan, a resident of Balakrishnapuram village, said, “Politicians are allowed to enter the village for campaigning, and they can bring with them whatever flags and banners they want, but when they leave, they have to take all that with them.”The politics related rules enforced by these villages also ensure that there is no discord among the villagers on the basis of politics. “It is not discussed publicly. Everyone votes for whoever they want. There is no debate or discussion about it during panchayats or other public meetings,” he said.