The Election Commission on Friday cleared broadcast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular radio programme “Mann ki Baat” on September 20 but with the rider that nothing shall be said which may impact the coming Bihar polls or influence the voters.
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On the other hand, keeping the upcoming election polls in Bihar, on Wednesday many political parties, including the Congress, the JD(U) and the RJD have approached the Election Commission, demanding to accept their call for suspending the PM’s radio address “Mann ki Baat”.
The EC order came in response to a clarification sought by the information and broadcasting ministry on the issue on September 15. This newspaper had on September 17 reported that the commission was likely to give its clearance to the telecast of PM’s Mann Ki Baat programme.
“Interesting effort by @mygovindia, which enables you to join Mann Ki Baat programme”. “The elections are being fought on the agenda of development while Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and Congress have nothing to show to people”.
A senior EC official had said they can take “cognizance” of any such demand only after finding that the programme’s contents violate the model code. Second, it is technically impossible to block the broadcast in Bihar as it is aired simultaneously across multiple platforms such as YouTube, PIB live streaming and private channels. “They are desperate.” The Election Commission had indicated that a blanket ban couldn’t be imposed on government programmes and policy decisions in Cabinet meetings.
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The program has been broadcast once a every month ever since Modi became the Prime Minister. The Congress had previously raised the demand seeking ban on the airing “Mann ki baat” during Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls.
