Following the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct for the General Elections 2019, several government websites, which also includes that of the Prime Minister’s Office, have taken down the pictures of the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers.
Many ministers are yet to comply.
The Lok Sabha Elections which is scheduled to be commenced from April 11.
The announcement of the date for elections means the immediate implementation of the Model Code of Conduct comes. It remains operational till the process is completed.
The model code of conduct states that the party in power, whether at the Centre or in the states, should ensure that it does not use its official position for campaigning.
Ministers and other government authorities are not allowed to announce financial grants in any form.
No project or scheme which may result in influencing the voters in favour of the party in power, could be announced, and Ministers are not allowed to use official mechanism or privileges for campaign purposes.
In a letter, written to the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Secretaries of states, the Election Commission had asked them that the photographs of “political functionaries” on official websites are to be removed or hidden with immediate effect.
The Prime Minister’s Office website took down the pictures of PM Narendra Modi and so did the site of PIB(Press Information Bureau) which is responsible to disseminate government information to the media.
However, the website of the Law Ministry still carries the pictures of Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad along with his junior minister P P Chaudhury and a link to Prime Minister’s ‘Mann ki Baat’.
Same is the case with the website of Ministry of Minority Affairs where pictures of Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and his juniors are still in display.
Central and state governments have been instructed to remove all unauthorised political advertisements in the form of writings on walls or posters, hoardings, banners and flags from public property and public spaces such as airports, railway stations, bus stands, government offices, municipal buildings, and buses within 3 days of announcement of Election dates.