Congress delegation meets EC over 'misuse of Doordarshan' by BJP

A Congress delegation led by Kapil Sibal on Monday approached the Election Commission alleging misuse of television channels by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to broadcast its speeches.

"We have submitted 3 representations to the Election Commission. Two representations were made in connection with the misuse of Doordarshan and other television channels by BJP to broadcast its speeches," stated Sibal while talking to media here, adding that a particular channel has also come up with a logo of "NAMO".

He said that under the Representation of People Act (RPA) and the guidelines of EC, "there cannot be any election campaigning in this fashion."

"The other representation was made against some government officials in the state of Jharkhand, charged with bribery and criminal misconduct," he added.

Earlier today, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner alleging a violation of the Model Code of Conduct by means of the television channel 'NAMO TV'.

"Can permission be granted to a party to have their own TV channel even after model code of conduct is enforced? If no permission was sought by ECI then what action has been taken?" AAP legal cell member Mohd Irshad stated in his letter to the Chief Election Commissioner.

AAP also alleged that BJP, by launching 'NAMO TV', has defied the cardinal principle of 'Level Playing Field' for all the political parties.

The model code of conduct came into force on March 10, after the EC announced the schedule for 17th Lok Sabha elections.

Elections will be held in seven phases - from April 11 to May 19. Counting of votes will be done on May 23.