Election Commission directs govt to immediately stop Viksit Bharat Whatsapp messages | India News

NEW DELHI: Election Commission (EC) on Thursday directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to put an end to bulk WhatsApp messages labelled ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark.’ It has also sought a compliance report immediately from the ministry.
EC had received several complaints that such messages are still being delivered on citizens’ phones despite the announcement of Lok Sabha elections and the model code of conduct (MCC) entering into force.
In response, the govt informed the commission that although the letters were sent out before MCC came into force, some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations.In the past few days, several WhatsApp users have received messages from ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’ seeking feedback and suggestions from the public. The message comes with a PDF that has a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Matru Vandana Yojana, etc, and seeking suggestions from the citizens over government initiatives and schemes.

The letter which addresses users as ‘my dear family members’ had sparked political controversy. Congress has called the PDF file attached with the message a ‘political propaganda’.