With all the 70 constituencies in Delhi going to the polls on February 5, 2025, the three major parties, Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and Congress, have made extensive use of every possible means, including digital platforms, to woo voters. Social media platforms have proved to be an effective way to convey political messages to the people, with parties investing heavily in targeted advertisements to engage voters.
As per the guidelines of the Election Commission, the ‘silence period’ has come into effect from 6 pm on February 3 and rallies, campaigning etc. for the Delhi elections have stopped.
Silence Period….. #DelhiElections #DelhiElection2025@ECISVEEP pic.twitter.com/P7BPAEU1kR
— CEO, Delhi Office (@CeodelhiOffice) February 3, 2025
After the Delhi election notification was issued on January 10, 2025, the Election Commission issued a directive on January 17, 2025, the last day of nomination, reminding the parties that Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 prohibited the display of any election matter by means of television, cinematograph or similar devices in polling areas during the ‘silence period’ of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll, to provide voters with a quiet atmosphere to take decisions without the influence of last-minute campaigning.
Point 4 of the guidelines issued by the Election Commission clearly states that “Political advertisements on any election matter in TV, cable networks, radio, Cinema Halls, use of bulk SMS/voice messages, audio visual displays in any polling area during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in the polling area is also prohibited. Political advertisements relating to election matters, even if disguised in another form, like ads masquerading as news items/headlines, are strictly prohibited from being displayed during the silence period in the polling area, regardless of prior scheduling.”
Alt News has been monitoring the official Facebook pages of the three major parties contesting the Delhi Assembly elections in the Meta Ad Library. We found that the official page of BJP Delhi is currently running ads during the ‘silence period’, which is a clear violation of the Election Commission guidelines.
The violation of the norms set by the Election Commission raises questions about the party’s intent to follow the electoral rules. This is not the first time that the ‘silence period’ has been violated by parties. Alt News has also exposed violations of the ‘silence period’ by BJP proxy pages in the Gujarat Assembly elections , Karnataka Assembly elections and Jharkhand Assembly elections .
We have mailed Facebook’s parent company Meta regarding this violation. This article will be updated if any action is taken or response is received from them.
The post Delhi Elections: BJP Delhi’s official Facebook page violates EC’s silence period rule appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.