The Election Commission of India on Wednesday threw a spanner on the release of the biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying political biopics pose a threat to the level playing field during elections. However, in what could give further shock to the ruling dispensation on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the poll body also clarified that the ban on film is also applicable to the NaMo TV, a 24-hour channel launched recently to promote Modi and the ruling BJP.
The TV channel had mysteriously landed on DTH connections recently drawing protests from the opposition parties. Reports say that the channel had never sought a licence from the government to uplink and downlink content via satellite.
Earlier, in its notice to the Election Commission, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had said the channel was a “platform service” of the DTH operators and that it did not require uplinking/ downlinking permissions from the government. The channel aired exclusively the speeches of Modi.
The EC order banning the Modi biopic stated: “.. any poster or publicity material concerning any such certified content, which either depicts a candidate (including prospective) for the furtherance (or purported to further) of electoral prospects, directly or indirectly, shall not be put on display in electronic media in the area where MCC is in force."
Titled PM Narendra Modi, film was slated to release on April 11.
The EC decision to ban the airing of NaMo TV is the latest in a series of setback the ruling BJP has suffered on a single day, just less than 24 hours before the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls beginning on Thursday.
Earlier in the morning, the Supreme Court had dismissed the government's contention that documents about the purchase of 36 Rafale fighters were inadmissible.
