New Delhi, Apr 4 (UNI) Responding to the notice issued by Election Commission on the live coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ programme at Kolkata, the Doordarshan on Thursday said that it broadcasted the programme because of the content had ‘high news value’.
In a reply to the Commission, the public broadcaster said that the event was a news programme and with high news value, sources said.
It further said that other private news channels also broadcasted due to its news value, hence it did not violate any Model Code of Conduct.
Congress and the CPI(M) alleged that DD has violated MCC by broadcasting the programme ‘live’ on DD news and its Youtube Channel.
In a letter to the Commission, the CPI(M) said that “Prime Minister's (84 minutes) speech in Kolkata was broadcast live by DD. Additionally, private channels using the same coverage were acknowledging this by prominently displaying on the screen that the feeds were from DD”.
“Can the Election Commission ensure a level-playing field by recurrence of such partisan behaviour of the public broadcaster?," asked party polit bureau member Nilotpal Basu.
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