Election Commission Denies Permission To Air Modi-Bill Gate Interaction On Doordarshan (Photo on X Ansh @ansh__sindhu)As national broadcaster Doordarshan was all set to air the interaction between Prime Minister Modi and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, reports emerged that that the Election Commission has asked the broadcaster not to go ahead with the plans. The interaction was planned to run on Doordarshan on March 29.
As per reports, while the Election Commission has not made any formal response to Prasar Bharti’s request for approval to run the program on Doordarshan, the Commission is learnt to have informally informed Prasar Bharti that the broadcasting of the 45-minute interaction between Prime Minister Modi and the US businessman would amount to the disruption in the level playing field, noting the existence of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Economic Times reported citing unknown sources.
The Commission has also reportedly warned that such violations were also bound to invite action from the poll panel. However, the public broadcaster has dropped its plan to air the program as it received no official permission from the Election Commission, the news portal reported quoting officials.
Notably, the two key arms of Prasar Bharti, Doordarshan and All India Radio have run parts of the interaction between Prime Minister Modi and Bill Gates in their news shows. Besides, the interaction has been already available across different news platforms and YouTube channels. The discussion between the Indian Prime Minister and the founder of the US tech giant has been extensively covered by private news channels.
The intervention of the ECI derives from the section of the Model Code of Conduct which directs the ruling party to refrain from using public exchequer in the newspaper or other media or the misuse of mass media to issue advertisement during the elections. The interaction had discussions regarding the prospect of the third term of Modi governance among others.
Notably, Doordarshan was recently criticised for not intervening or acting against the airing of the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story.’ It is reported that while the political parties approached the ECI demanding the withdrawal of airing calling the movie a ‘political propaganda,’ the Commission assessed that the movie was already available on OTT and other platforms. It also noted that it was certified by the censor board. ECI also observed that such programs are part of the commercial shows at the broadcaster.
In 2019, the public broadcaster invited criticism after it aired an 84-minute long live broadcast of Prime Minister Modi’s campaign address.