Election Commission nod must for television publicity
Rohit Mathur - Televisionpoint.com | Gandhinagar
The Election Commission (EC) has decided to directly bring under its scanner the effort of the political parties to use video and television channels for their electoral gain in the state of Gujarat.
In an official note issued on Tuesday, it said political parties and prospective candidates would have to necessarily get clearance from a three-person high-level committee formed by the EC before broadcasting their propaganda material. The committee is chaired by Ashok Manek, additional chief electoral officer, Gujarat.
It will consist of Dhiraj Kakadia, director (news) Doordarshan, as Union information and broadcasting ministry representative, and Sonal Mishra, Gandhinagar collector, who is also the district's returning officer. EC said the first thing the committee will do is to scan the Vande Gujarat channel launched by the government for poll-eve propaganda.
The EC has received complaints from cable operators that they are being pressurised by state officialdom to run the channel on the prime time in villages across the state. The channel is being used for political propaganda. Huge screens are put up to broadcast Narendra Modi's programme live in the state's villages by using the Vande Gujarat channel.
Several of Congress-sponsored advertisement clips on the state-based TV channels, including the one on suicides of farmers and indifference of the government during the Surat floods, would need to be cleared by the committee.
The official EC note said the committee has been formed against the backdrop of a recent Supreme Court order, which wants political parties to take EC permission before propaganda broadcast under the Cable TV Regulation Act.
The EC order comes a day ahead of the arrival of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to Gujarat. On Wednesday, Chawla will hold talks on poll-related issues with Ahmedabad district collector, before going to Jamnagar, where he will meet district collectors of Porbander, Jamnagar and Kutch. Later, in Rajkot, he will meet the district collectors of Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh.
The Election Commission (EC) has decided to directly bring under its scanner the effort of the political parties to use video and television channels for their electoral gain in the state of Gujarat.
In an official note issued on Tuesday, it said political parties and prospective candidates would have to necessarily get clearance from a three-person high-level committee formed by the EC before broadcasting their propaganda material. The committee is chaired by Ashok Manek, additional chief electoral officer, Gujarat.
It will consist of Dhiraj Kakadia, director (news) Doordarshan, as Union information and broadcasting ministry representative, and Sonal Mishra, Gandhinagar collector, who is also the district's returning officer. EC said the first thing the committee will do is to scan the Vande Gujarat channel launched by the government for poll-eve propaganda.
The EC has received complaints from cable operators that they are being pressurised by state officialdom to run the channel on the prime time in villages across the state. The channel is being used for political propaganda. Huge screens are put up to broadcast Narendra Modi's programme live in the state's villages by using the Vande Gujarat channel.
Several of Congress-sponsored advertisement clips on the state-based TV channels, including the one on suicides of farmers and indifference of the government during the Surat floods, would need to be cleared by the committee.
The official EC note said the committee has been formed against the backdrop of a recent Supreme Court order, which wants political parties to take EC permission before propaganda broadcast under the Cable TV Regulation Act.
The EC order comes a day ahead of the arrival of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to Gujarat. On Wednesday, Chawla will hold talks on poll-related issues with Ahmedabad district collector, before going to Jamnagar, where he will meet district collectors of Porbander, Jamnagar and Kutch. Later, in Rajkot, he will meet the district collectors of Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh.
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