New Delhi, Oct 13: The Election Commission today said the release of advertisements highlighting the achievements of the BJP-led government at the centre in the five states going to polls was a "clear violation" of the model code of conduct and directed that such a practice be stopped forthwith. "With the announcement of elections on October 06, the model code of conduct came into force immediately. The display of such advertisements at the cost of public exchequer constitutes a clear violation of the code," the Commission told the government.
This was because it provided an "undue advantage" to the party in power and has the effect of "influencing" the voters in favour of the party in power, it said in a communication to the Cabinet Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The directive by the commission came a day after Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had rejected the charge that the release of ads to mark completion of four years of NDA government was in violation of the code saying they highlighted the achievements of the centre and not of those states going to polls.
The commission said that it had come to its notice that a number of advertisements overtly and covertly depicting the achievements of the party in power at the centre are being displayed through newspaper advertisements and TV spots at the cost of the public exchequer.
The advertisements are also appearing in newspaper editions in the five states, it noted.
Though the advertisements extol ostensibly either the achievements of the government or announce projects programmes to be taken up in parts of the country where elections are not being held, the commission said that it seemed to have been issued at this juncture with "an eye on coming elections".
Bureau Report