Kolkata: West bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress Wednesday asked the Election Commission to restrain television channels from telecasting election speeches live on a polling day, but cried foul after BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi’s three rallies in the state were beamed live by vernacular TV news channels.
“We have written to the EC urging it to restrain TV channels from live telecasting of the election speeches in the states where polling is on today (Wednesday),” said Trinamool spokesperson Derek O’Brien.
The party protested the telecast of Modi’s rallies.
“Live telecast of election rallies on poll days is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” Trinamool general secretary Mukul Roy said after Modi rally in Nadia district’s Krishnanagar, Barasat city in North 24 Parganas and Kolkata were telecast live.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself addressed rallies during the day but they were not picked up by the channels.
Earlier, the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee too had expressed concern over the live telecast of Modi’s nomination rally in Varanasi city, which took place April 24, the day when 117 Lok Sabha constituencies in 12 states went to the polls.
“It was unjust and inappropriate that the rally was telecast across the country on a polling day. The damage has been done,” Bhattacharjee, the former Bengal chief minister, said about Modi’s Varanasi rally.