The Election Commission on Thursday has directed the Centre to “immediately halt” sending bulk WhatsApp messages under the ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ to highlight the government’s initiatives.
The Commission issued the direction to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology after it received complaints about the matter. The Commission stated, “The move is a part of a series of decisions taken by Commission to ensure a level-playing field.”
Also, it sought a compliance report on the matter from the ministry.
The ministry informed the Commission that the messages along with a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi were sent before the Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 16.
The ministry stated in a communication to the Commission, “some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations.”
The poll authority received several complaints that such messages highlighting the government’s initiatives were still being delivered on citizens’ phones despite the announcement of the General Elections 2024 & the MCC coming into force.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress raised objections to the message and requested the Election Commission to act against this “blatant violation” of the Model Code of Conduct.