Indian Nation Congress (INC) moved to the Election Commission on Monday claiming the alleged “misuse” of the channel Doordarshan in broadcasting PM Modi’s speech of their achievements to influence the public and a violation of the Moral Code of Conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha Polls.
A channel named ‘content TV’, launched on various DTH platforms is considered to be Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) bias.
Congress has also asked the election commission to remove Jharkhand electoral officer alleging him of criminal charges.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also wrote a letter to the Election Commission on Monday over the recently launched ‘Namo TV’.
In its letter, AAP questioned if BJP sought permission before launching this channel. And if not, then why did Election commission did not take any stand on it?
The channel ‘content TV’ is responsible for promoting the ruling party broadcasting their videos and speeches of achievements and their “Jumlas”. It also promotes the personal achievements of the PM, his political rallies, and broadcasting interviews of prominent BJP leaders.
There are three representation made to the EC by a joint committee of representatives that include, senior leaders of the opposition party Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
The first representation is against the chief electoral officer of Jharkhand and relevant authorities seeking their immediate suspension on the grounds of pending criminal cases and complaints of bribery and undue influence against them.
The second and third representation is against the ruling party’s repeated efforts of violating the Code of Conduct by broadcasting the speeches on a national television channel, Doordarshan. They have also alleged the ruling party of using a channel that has ‘Namo’ in its logo to publicize and promote its agenda of politics. These channels have been alleged to broadcast the speeches of BJP, which under the Representation of People Act and the guidelines of EC, cannot be used for campaigning.
The Congress also requested EC to approach Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Prasar Bharti (DD news) to investigate and pass strictures and censures against the broadcasting of promoting videos of any specific political party. BJP is “using government-owned channels as a tool to advertise their election campaign”.