Plaint filed against Odisha news channels for violating MCC

Suranjan Mishra Published On : May 30, 2024 at 10:02 PM

Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-Odisha against private news channels OTV and Argus, including Odisha Reporter (a digital platform of the OTV) alleging that these news channels have violated the model code of conduct (MCC).

It seems that there are two sets of rules of the MCC laid by the Election Commission of India (ECI); one for these three news channels and a second for other TV channels and web portals in Odisha.

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“OTV is running BJP campaign programmes as paid news (Annexure-1) while Odisha Reporter ran a public-solicited opinion poll on its social media platform (Annexure-2) and Argus News TV ran a television debate (Annexure-3) on Jajpur district going for polling on 1st June 2024,” the BJD alleged.

Notably, the ruling party demanded strong action against the three news channels for violating MCC as well as the provisions as envisaged in the Representation of the People Act, 1951. If immediate and strict action is not taken, then it would vitiate the conduct of free and fair elections, BJD stated.