BJP writes to poll panel on NaMo TV, says 'documentary content' removed

Two days after the Election Commission directed that all recorded programmes displayed on NaMo TV be pre-certified, the BJP on Saturday wrote to the Delhi poll body that "documentary content" has been removed from the channel, officials said.

An official of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office said the BJP replied in the afternoon and said they will not run any content that was "not certified" or "returned" by the media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC). The party also said the documentary content that was being earlier aired by the channel is not being aired anymore.

The CEO's office Saturday also directed the party to ensure that all videos played on NaMo TV bear the certification number given by it.

Officials at the CEO office said that parties only specify whether the content is for social media or TV and not whether it will go on any particular channel. Keeping this in mind, the party has been directed to ensure that the content played on NaMo TV bears the certification ID.

The Election Commission had on Thursday said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform should be pre-certified by media certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately.

Following the EC's directive, the CEO of Delhi wrote to the BJP to ensure that all political content not approved be removed.

"As a precautionary measure, two officials have been deployed to watch NaMo TV and monitor its content," officials had said.

An official said political parties usually submit audiovisual content for pre-certification, without specifying on which platform it will be aired. The content may be aired during a rally or on the party's website, he said.

After the Congress filed a complaint with the poll panel about the channel disturbing the level playing field, the EC had asked the Delhi CEO to file a report on the issue.

The Delhi CEO approved the logo of NaMo TV, which the BJP said was part of the NaMo App that it owns, but did not "certify" the content as it contained old speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.