Article about Punjab CM Badal among paid news cases, says EC

The Election Commission on Tuesday said it has detected 34 cases of ‘paid news’ including a news article related to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. As many as 64 complaints pertaining to paid news were received by the state election office and of which 34 were declared as paid news.

The Election Commission on Tuesday said it has detected 34 cases of ‘paid news’ including a news article related to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal (File photo)

As many as 64 complaints pertaining to paid news were received by the state election office and of which 34 were declared as paid news.

“We picked up 64 cases of paid news and out of them, 34 were certified as paid news,” Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V K Singh said here.

To a query, an official said that a news item pertaining to Badal published in a vernacular has also been declared as paid news.

The official said that the expenditure incurred on the paid news would be added to the poll expenditure of the candidate.