Election Commission asks Centre to stop Viksit Bharat WhatsApp campaign
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Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Election Commission on Thursday asked the government to stop delivering WhatsApps messages about ‘Viksit Bharat’, sending a notice after Opposition parties complained that the letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated rules.
Citing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which is now in effect, the ECI has also sought a compliance report on the matter immediately from MeitY.
The Commission noted the Centre's response on March 16 that the WhatsApp messages were sent out on March 15, before the MCC came into force. The Ministry had said that although the letters were sent out before the MCC period, some messages were being delivered late due to system architecture and network limitations.
However, several people in India have reportedly been receiving messages even after March 15 from "Viksit Bharat Sampark", with a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi from a series of verified WhatsApp Business accounts.
Addressing the citizens as "Dear family member", the Prime Minister's message said their partnership is at the threshold of completing a decade and the trust and support of 1.4 billion Indians inspires and motivates him.
"The transformation that has taken place in the lives of the people is the biggest achievement of our government over the last 10 years. These transformative outcomes are the result of the sincere efforts made by a determined government to improve the quality of life for the poor, farmers, youth and women," he said in the letter.
The Opposition leaders had slammed the incumbent government for violating the MCC and appealed to the ECI for action against the BJP.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to social media site X (formerly Twitter) and pointed out the misuse of government data. "Will the @ECISVEEP take note of such a blatant misuse of government machinery and government data to serve the partisan political interests of the ruling party?" Tharoor had posted.
TMC MP Saket Gokhale alleged that not only people in India but also around the world who visited the country were being spammed with the 'Viksit Bharat' Whatsapp message promoting Modi and the BJP.
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