Election Commission seeks MIB’s response on NaMo TV launch

The Election Commission (EC) of India has sought the response from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) over the recently-launched ‘NaMo TV’ (earlier called Content TV) after complaints were filed by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. 

NaMo TV, which has the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the logo, airs Modi’s election speeches every day and propagates various policy initiatives taken by him. The channel is being hosted by all major DTH platforms. 

Meanwhile, replying to the Election Commission, MIB said that BJP is incurring the cost of the advertisements and that it is not a licensed channel. India has roughly 350 unlicensed channels that come alive during elections, stated a leading business publication. 

Earlier on Tuesday, both Congress and AAP had filed a complaint against NaMo TV, which was launched on March 31, 2019, asking how the channel was launched after the model code of conduct came into force. The Election Commission had also written to Doordarshan asking how it ran a live broadcast of PM Modi’s public address, ‘Main bhi chowkidaar’ on March 31. 

In a letter to the EC, AAP said that the channel went against the principle of creating a level playing field for all political parties. 

The Congress, too, wrote to the EC stating that the channel was dedicated “solely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP for promoting and advertising the achievements of the government, personal achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, political rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and broadcasting interviews of prominent BJP leaders”.

Media
@adgully

News in the domain of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Business of Entertainment