The Hindu : Parties welcome ban on ads

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 03, 2004

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Parties welcome ban on ads

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 2. All major political parties have welcomed the Supreme Court's interim order banning the telecast of political or surrogate advertisements on television channels and cable networks which offend "the law of the land, morality, decency and religious susceptibility of viewers and are shocking, disgusting and revolting."

Briefing mediapersons here today, the Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said his party welcomed the judgment as "we believe that in an election, the programme, policies, achievements and leadership issues must be highlighted."

All political parties should agree to a model code for political advertisements. "The way the Congress was running its campaign shows that the party is bereft of issues," he added.

Welcoming the interim order, the Congress spokesperson, Kapil Sibal, said the Government had moved the Supreme Court only when surrogate advertisements attacking the BJP leadership began appearing in the electronic media. "The BJP remained silent when the Congress objected to surrogate advertisements on foreign origin because that campaign was to their advantage."

Urging the electronic media to refrain from giving importance to personal allegations, he said the Election Commission should frame a code of conduct at the earliest to maintain the level of political discourse during elections.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said it favoured Rule 7(3) of the Programme Code remaining in operation as it ensured a level-playing field to all those in the electoral arena.

Referring to the Supreme Court asking the Election Commission to monitor the advertisements, the party's politburo member, Sitaram Yechury, said it could be difficult for the Commission to do so because of the number of channels.

D. Raja of the Communist Party of India said the interim order would uphold the quality of debate that had touched a new low this time round. However, it was important to ensure a level-playing field since all political parties, especially those representing the poor and the marginalised, did not have the money to campaign on the electronic media.

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