Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 10
As the EC has announced there will be no rallies till January 15 and the curb could be extended depending on the Covid situation, parties hope Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio will extend their free time.
The DD Jalandhar officials said the modalities for the same would be worked out in a meeting, which would be soon convened by Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab. As per the norms prevailing since 1998, the DD allows all recognised parties to put up a video, in which a speech is read to its viewers for the allotted time ranging between five to 15 minutes, depending on the parties’ previous term performance. The script of the speech has to be submitted in advance for approval to analyse that no part of it is either provocative or violates the model code of conduct.
Spokesperson, Shiromani Akali Dal, Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema said, “Though social media is powerful these days, the reach of DD still remains high. Some remote areas of Punjab do not have a proper access to social media due to poor Internet connectivity. Owing to the curbs put on campaign in view of Covid, we expect more free time from the DD and All India Radio for such programmes.”
Leaders of the BJP are demanding that instead of allotting the time according to the previous performance of a party, there should be level field playing and all the parties should get the same free time to express their views. “We are against the idea of giving less time to the parties that have not performed well in the previous elections. For a new contest in a new scenario, all parties should get the same time to speak. We will definitely raise the issue in the meeting,” said former BJP minister Manorajan Kalia.
EC yet to give order
The EC is expected to double the free time for the parties, but we are yet to receive any formal orders for it. We provide recording and relaying facilities only. — Anoop Khajuria, programme head, Doordarshan
No rallies, parties demand extension of DD free time
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