Guwahati, March 21: The Election Commission instructed the Centre to immediately halt sending bulk WhatsApp messages as part of the “Viksit Bharat Sampark” initiative, aimed at promoting government initiatives.
This directive followed complaints received by the Commission regarding the matter.
"The move is a part of a series of decisions taken by the Commission to ensure a level-playing field," the Commission said. It has also sought a compliance report on the matter from the ministry.
The ministry informed the Commission that these messages, accompanied by a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were dispatched before the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct on March 16, although some may have experienced delays due to technical constraints.
".... some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations," the ministry said in a communication to the Commission.
Despite the commencement of the General Elections 2024 and the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission received numerous complaints about the continued delivery of such messages to citizens' phones.
As per reports, both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress objected to these messages, urging the Election Commission to address what they viewed as a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
