New Delhi: BJP yesterday petitioned the Election Commission to stop Congress President Sonia Gandhi from airing her message on Doordarshan and AIR and said it is violative of the Model Code as it polarises the election scene among religious communities.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, BJP alleged that Congress party is planning to use one of its earlier advertisements already aired through private TV channels on Doordarshan and AIR using one of the free slots alloted to it.
'The standard rule is that the slots can be used only for short speeches or messages by the party functionaries to whom the slots are given and also that the content should be recorded in the Doordarshan/AIR studios in a prescribed backdrop. All these norms are violated in the instant case,' a BJP communication said.
The letter from BJP MP R Ramakrishna says, 'It should also be remembered that the message by Sonia Gandhi is violative of the model code of conduct since it polarises the election scene among religious communities.
