Guwahati: The Election Commission has directed the Centre to immediately discontinue sending bulk WhatsApp messages as part of the “Viksit Bharat Sampark” initiative, designed to promote government initiatives. This instruction comes in response to complaints received by the Commission regarding the matter.
A spokesperson for the Commission stated, “The move is part of a series of decisions taken by the Commission to ensure a level-playing field.” Additionally, the Commission has requested a compliance report on the matter from the ministry concerned.
In response, 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. However, the ministry acknowledged that some messages 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 conveyed in a communication to the Commission.
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