Stop ‘Viksit Bharat’ Messages on WhatsApp, Election Commission Orders Centre

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of the Central Government to “immediately halt” sending ‘Viksit Bharat’ messages on WhatsApp as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is currently in force following the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The ECI also sought a compliance report on the matter from the Ministry.

According to the ECI, it has received several complaints that messages sent under the “Viksit Bharat Sampark” to highlight the Central government’s initiatives were still being delivered on citizens’ phones as WhatsApp messages even though MCC is in force.

The MeitY claimed before the ECI that the messages were sent before the MCC came into force, some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay due to systemic and network limitations.