Stop ‘Viksit Bharat’ WhatsApp Messaging, Election Commission Tells Centre

New Delhi: Citing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday asked the Central Government to stop sending WhatsApps messages about ‘Viksit Bharat’.

The move came after opposition parties slammed the government for violating the MCC by sending Viksit Bharat messages from Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking citizens to share feedback and suggestions on Viksit Bharat.

The ECI has also sought a compliance report on the matter immediately from Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The Ministry had informed the ECI that the messages were sent out before the model code came into force on March 15 but some of them could have been delivered late because of  “system architecture and network limitations”.

The message read: “Namaste, this letter has been sent by the Government of India under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji. In the last 10 years, all 140 crore Indians have benefited from the various schemes and policies of the Government, and will continue to do so in the future as well. Your participation is critical as we, together as one Family, work towards fulfilling our aspiration of a Viksit Bharat. You are therefore requested to kindly share Feedback and Suggestions on your vision of Viksit Bharat.”

Many opposition leaders had appealed to the ECI for action against BJP for sending messages violating MCC.

“Will the @ECISVEEP take note of such a blatant misuse of government machinery and government data to serve the partisan political interests of the ruling party?” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X