Tripura Assembly election | Congress, BJP get EC notice for tweets seeking votes on poll day
The Hindu
The Election Commission said the tweets are violative of election law as they were made in the 48 hour ‘silence period’ which began on February 14
The Chief Electoral Officer of Tripura on Thursday issued notices to the State units of the Congress and the BJP as well as BJP national general secretary Dilip Saikia for seeking votes on Twitter when polling is underway in the northeastern State.
The Election Commission said the tweets are violative of election law as they were made in the 48 hour "silence period" which began on Tuesday evening. Voting for the 60-member Assembly in the State began at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
Also read: Tripura Assembly elections 2023 live | Tripura registers 69.96% voter turnout till 3 p.m. amid sporadic incidents of violence
They have been given an an opportunity "to take corrective action at the earliest". They have also been asked to explain their stands for the violation by 5 p.m. on Friday.
In its notice to Mr. Saikia, the Tripura CEO said, "an appeal for vote in favour of BJP has been tweeted from your handle at 09.50 hours on 16.02.2023. The tweet is in form of a photo containing following message: Unnato Tripura Sreshtho Tripura Vote for BJP."
It said the tweet violates section 126 (l)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prohibits display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus in polling area during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area.
An identical notice to the Tripura BJP said an appeal for vote in favour of BJP was tweeted from BJP handle at 8 a.m. on Thursday. "The tweet followed by a video clip is as under: For a safe and brighter future, vote for BJP", it said.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”