The Election Commission of India on Thursday barred the Centre from sending out WhatsApp messages containing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s messages pertaining to the ‘Viksit Bharat’ campaign citing a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) dated March 21, the Commission said that it has received complaints from various quarters that WhatsApp messages from the PM were being received by citizens even after the Model Code of Conduct has been imposed.
“Since the MCC is now in force, you are hereby directed to ensure forthwith that no further delivery of ‘WhatsApp messages’ take place during MCC period. A compliance report in this regard may be sent immediately,” ther letter signed by Narendra N Butolia, Senior Principal Secretary, ECI, read.
In its letter to the EC, the Centre had claimed that the messages were sent out on March 15 before the Model Code of Conduct came into effect. The ministry claimed that though the letters were sent out prior to the announcement of the election schedule and the MCC coming into force, some letters were delivered late due to system architecture and network limitations.
The Model Code of Conduct came into effect with the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections schedule by the Election Commission of India on Saturday, March 16.
Millions of Indians received the WhatsApp message by ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ with PM Modi’s letter, a development that the Opposition termed as a blatant violation of the MCC. ““Will the EC take note of such a blatant misuse of government machinery and government data to serve the partisan political interests of the ruling party,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP also shared screenshots of a UAE national who expressed concern about a ‘data breach’ after receiving PM Modi’s letter on WhatsApp. Similar incidents were reported from the UK and other nations as well.