The Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 21 directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to immediately halt delivery of Viksit Bharat messaging over WhatsApp.
This development comes after several citizens and opposition political parties complained about receiving messages over WhatsApp regarding seeking feedback and suggestions from citizens along with a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The messages sparked a controversy with critics alleging misuse of government database and for political propaganda.
"The Commission has received complaints from various quarters that such messages are still being delivered on citizens' phones," the letter from Narendra N Butola, the principal secretary of the ECI to the IT ministry read.
Also read: WhatsApp, social media influencers rule the poll trail as parties kick off campaigns
"Since the MCC is now in force, you are hereby directed to ensure forthwith that no further delivery of 'WhatsApp messages' take place during MCC period. A compliance report in this regard may be sent immediately," the letter addressed to the S Krishnan, the secretary of MeitY read.
The ECI direction referred to a letter by the IT ministry, which had informed the commission that the concerned messages were sent on March 15, before the Model Code of Conduct came into force.
"It was informed in that letter that though the letters were sent out before MCC period, but due to system architecture and network limitations it is possible that some letters have a delayed delivery," the ECI direction said while referring to the IT ministry's letter.
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