Violation of code of conduct : EC warns NaMo TV from airing barred contents
New Delhi : NaMo TV has been barred by the Election Commission from airing any political content that has not been certified.
The 24-hour channel is exclusively featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches and pro-BJP content in the middle of the Lok Sabha election.
The Election Commission said in a letter to the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer any political publicity material on electronic media without certification should be removed immediately as it is violative of the Model Code of Conduct.
The highlights of the letter as follows
“As NaMo TV/Content TV is sponsored by a political party, all recorded programmes of political contents displayed on the channel/platform would be covered under the purview of the Commission’s Order…”
“Any political publicity materials/contents, being displayed on electronic media without the requisite certification from competent authority (MCMC in this case) should be removed immediately and any political content shall only be permitted strictly in accordance with the ECI instructions in this regard.”
It was further explained that the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer had told the commission that the logo of NaMo TV, which the BJP said is part of the NaMo App that it owns, had been approved but did not “certify” the content as it contained the old speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The basis of this directive
Tagged officially as a marketing channel but also called a “news service” by some providers, NaMo TV is being beamed to all subscribers of most DTH (Direct-To-Home) platforms since March 28. The government said the channel, which borrows the PM’s initials and his image for its logo, did not need a license.
The opposition parties including Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) complained to the Election Commission against the channel saying it has violated the model code of conduct that came into effect on March 10 after the Election Commission announced seven-phase elections from April 11 to May 19.
The Election Commission stopped the release of “PM Narendra Modi”, a biopic on the Prime Minister, yesterday. The film will be allowed to hit the screens only after the completion of the national election.
The poll body had yesterday also ordered the producers of ”Laxmi”s NTR” and ”Udyama Simham”, the two biopics based on the lives of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N T Rama Rao and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao respectively, not to release the movies till further orders.
The commission said that any biopic “which has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections should not be displayed in the electronic media”, till the with the election process gets completed.
