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Delhi Elections 2020| Congress puts in most requests for social media ad clearance: Electoral officer
Delhi Elections 2020: After the model code of conduct (MCC) came into force on January 6, political advertisements by candidates or political parties have to be certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee.
The Congress, so far, tops the list of political parties that have filed applications seeking approval for their social media advertisements ahead of the Delhi assembly elections on February 8. Till Wednesday, the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) had received a total of 33 requests to certify electronic or social media ads of political parties, of which 22 were from the Congress, a senior officer said.
After the model code of conduct (MCC) came into force on January 6, political advertisements by candidates or political parties have to be certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC).
According to officials, any content released without certification is illegal. Once approved, all electronic ads are certified to be posted on social media platforms as well.
While political parties have to apply directly to the CEO’s office, individual candidates can get their advertisements certified by the district election officers (DEOs). The MCMC has 24 hours to dispose of the request or give its approval for public viewing.
“So far, the most number of requests has come from the Congress. Of the 22 applications, three were rejected for modifications while one is pending scrutiny. Applications can be resubmitted after ads are modified as per MCC provisions,” the officer said.
He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stands second with nine applications while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed only two requests so far.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had submitted only a few requests while the BJP had topped the list. This year, Congress leaders said the party is going to boost its social media campaign to strike a chord with the youth and people at large.
The party had also set up a war room at the Delhi Congress headquarters on Deendayal Upadhyay Marg in the run-up to the polls. “We are going to boost our social media campaign. This is the first time that a war room has been set up with 30 volunteers handling the party’s online presence. We started with this during the Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand elections and it had worked well. We are holding interactive sessions on various platforms to get direct feedback from people,” Rohan Gupta, chairman, All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) social media department, said.
