New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday ordered the immediate cessation of bulk WhatsApp messages under the “Viksit Bharat Sampark” initiative, which were being used to promote the government’s accomplishments. The directive was issued to the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology following complaints.
The Commission stated that the action is part of a series of measures to maintain a fair playing field. It requested the government to halt any further delivery of these messages and has asked for an immediate report confirming compliance.
The Ministry had previously informed the Commission that these messages, which included a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were dispatched prior to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct on March 16, coinciding with the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule. The Ministry acknowledged that due to system and network constraints, some letters might have been delivered late.
Despite the announcement of the 2024 Parliamentary elections and the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the Commission received numerous complaints about such messages being delivered to citizens’ phones. Both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress objected to these messages and urged the Election Commission to address this clear breach of the Model Code of Conduct.
Earlier this week, the Chief Electoral Officer of Chandigarh forwarded a complaint about bulk WhatsApp messages to the Election Commission for suitable action. An official statement released on Tuesday revealed that the district media certification and monitoring committee found initial evidence of a violation of the Model Code of Conduct after examining the complaint, which was submitted via the cVIGIL mobile application of the Election Commission.