AAP And BJP Violate Poll Conduct As TV Journos Play Along

What’s more surprising? BJP and AAP violating poll conduct or TV journos not reporting on it?

WrittenBy:Arunabh Saikia
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At around 3.45 pm in the afternoon, Union Finance and Information and Broadcasting Minister, Arun Jaitley, accompanied by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) chief ministerial candidate for Delhi, Kiran Bedi, addressed a press conference. It was broadcast live by most news channels. The gist of what he was trying to say was simple: people should vote for the BJP as the other political party in the fray is “a face of anarchy”, more comfortable on the streets than the Secretariat. Pointing at the Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari’s call to support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jaitley stated that the move will backfire.

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Later in the day, at 5 pm, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), represented by Ashutosh, Ashish Khetan and Naresh Balyan, also held a press conference. Ashutosh began the press conference by reiterating his party’s refusal to accept the support extended by the Shahi Imam. Then Khetan spoke about how certain elements were trying to polarise the country and how AAP has set new benchmarks of non-communal politics.

Khetan then went on about how BJP was practicing “negative, regressive, reactionary” politics.

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Clearly, both the BJP and AAP used the Imam’s statement to carry on subtle campaigning way past the Election Commission’s deadline.

According to Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of People Act, “the display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus” within the 48-hour period prior to end of polling is prohibited. “Election matter” is anything that is “intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of an election”.

In another specific press note issued by the Election Commission in 2009 pertaining to “covering of election campaign”, the EC says that “no election matter intended/likely to influence or affect the result of election, related to the constituencies going to polls, should be telecast during the prohibited period of 48 hours referred to in Section 126, which may be seen in the constituencies going to polls”. This clearly means the onus is also on news channels to not broadcast any programme that could influence or affect the result of the election.

BJP’s press conference was held at the party headquarters located at Ashoka Road, part of the New Delhi constituency. AAP’s press conference was held in North Avenue, which also comes under the New Delhi constituency.

The images accompanying this report are screen grabs of a TV in the Newslaundry office, located within the Malaviya Nagar Assembly constituency. Both constituencies go to polls in less than 24 hours.

This is not the first time though that the BJP has blatantly violated Election Commission’s norms.During the Lok Sabha elections, Newslaundry had reported how news channels had collectively connived to violate the poll code and telecast the release of the BJP’s manifesto on a day the election was already underway in Assam and Tripura.

As for AAP, a party that makes tall claims about bringing in a new brand of clean politics, you would imagine they would refrain from indulging in such a brazen violation of the law of the land.

What is surprising is that news channels, which aired both the press conferences in their entirety, did not deem it important to report on the poll violation by both the parties.The violations are all the more glaring since Jaitley is a qualified lawyer and the country’s I&B minister, while both Ashutosh and Khetan are former journalists who have presumably covered more than one election during their journalistic careers.

When Newslaundry contacted Rupesh Thakur, Officer on Special Duty, Model Code of Conduct, Delhi elections, he said that “he is examining the matter and would bring it to the notice of the Election Commissioner”.

At the time of this story being written, BJP Union Minister of State, Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge), Nirmala Sitharaman, was addressing another press conference with the party symbol in the background, making a scathing attack on AAP.

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