NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Thursday directed the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MeitY) to immediately halt the delivery of ‘Viksit Bharat’ messages to people at large through WhatsApp.
In the order issued to the MeitY secretary the ECI said, it had received several complaints that such messages highlighting the government’s initiatives “are still being delivered on citizens’ phones’ despite the announcement of the General Elections 2024 and the Model Code of Conduct entering into force.
“In response, MeitY had informed the commission that although the letters were sent out before MCC came into force, some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations,” the poll panel said.
However, in its statement the poll panel said, “A Compliance report on the matter has been demanded immediately from MeitY.”
The move is part of a series of decisions taken by the Election Commission to ensure a level playing field in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Commission said that this action is a demonstration of the Commission's dedication and promise to uphold fairness and preserve the integrity of the electoral process, a sentiment repeatedly emphasized by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
The decision was taken after the commission convened a meeting chaired by CEC Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.