On March 21, the Election Commission directed the Centre to "immediately halt" sending bulk WhatsApp messages under the "Viksit Bharat Sampark" to highlight the government's initiatives.
Numerous people took to social media to share screenshots of messages they received from the Centre, calling it a violation of privacy. They also questioned how the government obtained phone numbers and sent them bulk messages.
The Commission issued the direction to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after it received complaints about the matter.
"The move is a part of a series of decisions taken by the Commission to ensure a level-playing field," the Commission said.
EC has also sought a compliance report on the matter from the ministry.
The ministry informed the Commission that the messages and a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi were sent before the Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 16.
".... some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations," the ministry communicated to the Commission.
The polling authority received numerous complaints regarding the continued delivery of messages promoting government initiatives to citizens' phones despite the announcement of the General Elections 2024 and the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress have objected to these messages and urged the Election Commission to act against what they deem a "flagrant violation" of the Model Code of Conduct.
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