PM Modi’s ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ message sparks row, Congress says ‘blatant misuse of govt machinery’

A WhatsApp message from ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ seeking feedback and suggestions from the citizens along with a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sparked a controversy, with opposition leaders alleging misuse of government database and the messaging app for political propaganda.

In a series of posts on X, the state unit of Congress in Kerala tagged WhatsApp’s parent company Meta and pointed to the automated message from a verified business account named Viksit Bharat Sampark.

“The message talks about taking feedback from Citizens, but the attached PDF is nothing but political propaganda,” said Kerala Congress in a statement.

“In the guise of feedback, the letter is nothing but claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making about his Govt as part of his campaign for the upcoming General Elections, misusing govt database,” it added.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took to X and questioned whether the Election Commission would take note of this. He wrote, “Will the Election Commission
take note of such a blatant misuse of government machinery and government data to serve the partisan political interests of the ruling party?”

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra took to X and called campaign message “shameless”.

She wrote on X, “MCC came into effect today at 1500 hrs after EC announcement. Just received shameless campaign message from “Viksit Bharat” at taxpayer expense plugging PM letter at 20:17 hrs. Please send from BJP party account.”

The opposition leaders called this an abuse of government resources and accused Prime Minister Modi of using it as a campaign tool for the upcoming General Elections.

“I need and indeed, look forward to your ideas, suggestions and support as we work to fulfil the resolve of building a Viksit Bharat,” stated Prime Minister Modi in the letter.

Earlier in February, BJP president J P Nadda had initiated the ‘Viksit Bharat Modi ki guarantee’ campaign, using video vans to gather suggestions from people across the country for the party’s manifesto in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.