Confusion over NaMo TV expenses, BJP approaches EC

Gujarat Assembly elections: As confusion prevails over accounting of broadcast expenses of NaMo TV, which showcases and promotes the achievements of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his government, the state BJP has approached the Election Commission to clarify this.

It is still not clear if the cost of running the channel should be considered as BJP's expense or that of Modi or any other probable party candidate.

"The state BJP has asked us to clarify the possible accounting of broadcasting and other expense of NaMo TV. Whether it will be considered as the party's expense or of the candidates (Modi and other BJP leaders promoted through the channel). We have refereed the matter to the EC for clarification," said state Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal.

"Expenses incurred by political parties do not come under the expense limit of candidates. Our role is just to take the expense accounts of parties after the election. We can take action only in the case of overexpenditure by candidates," she added.

The channel, which is broadcast on cable TV network and IPTV, was launched almost a fortnight ago, but it got the clearance from the EC only last week. It returned back on air on Tuesday.

When asked about the advertisements and content of the channel, Karwal said, "District-level media monitoring committees will scrutinies the advertisements. We don't directly deal with the content. However, we will monitor this and other channels for paid news scrutiny as per the DAVP and prevalent advertisements rates of the major channels."

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