NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday admitted that NaMo TV is part of a NaMo app, which is owned and run by the party, according to its IT Cell head Amit Malviya.
Meanwhile, the office of the Delhi chief electoral officer said on Thursday that although they had approved the logo of NaMo TV, the content was not certified since it contained old speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“NaMo TV is a feature of NaMo app which is run by the BJP IT cell. The party has taken slots on DTH for which provisions are there to show it,” Malviya told the Indian Express.
“We have not yet received the circular from the Election Commission. Once we get it, we will look into it, and respond in detail,” he further added.
The Election Commission on Tuesday had asked the CEO's office to inform whether the political content was at any time cleared by the certification committee.
In its reply to the EC, the CEO office said they had received a request from the BJP to pre-certify the content.
"The Delhi poll body approved the logo of NaMo TV but the content that was submitted for certification had old speeches of the prime minister and it was felt that since they have already been aired, they did not require pre-certification," an official, privy to the development, said.
The reply of the Delhi CEO office is centred around these points, he said, adding the decision on NaMo TV by the EC is expected on Thursday.
Last week, the poll panel had issued a notice seeking a report from the I&B Ministry on NaMo TV, launched just weeks ahead of the general election, after opposition parties, including the Congress, asked the poll body to direct the ministry to suspend the channel as it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
In its response, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is learnt to have responded that NaMo TV is an advertisement platform launched by DTH service providers which does not require government nod.
The ministry also said that NaMo TV is not a regular channel and does not figure in the official list of approved channels of the I&B Ministry.
As per the existing norms, no approval is required from the ministry to run such advertising platforms, the I&B ministry is learnt to have told the poll panel.
(With Inputs from PTI)