NEW DELHI, February 5: A piquant situation arose for political parties today when the Election Commission (EC) ruled out advertising on Doordarshan or private television channels.Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill told journalists that the three-member commission had examined all aspects of permitting advertisements on television and the decision to ban such publicity was made to ensure a ``level playing field for all candidates.''
Replying to questions that this would amount to discrimination against the electronic media since advertisements are permitted in the print media, Gill said advertising in newspapers had been going on for a long time and was a tradition, while television was a comparatively new medium.
Recognised national and regional parties will be getting a total of 122 hours of free time on Doordarshan to reach out to the public and get their message across, Gill said.
The Congress, interestingly, seems to be the least affected by the EC ruling. Starved of funds, the party, accordingto informed sources, had kept aside a mere Rs 1.5 crore for television advertisements out of its total poll-related expenses of about Rs 35 crore.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress joint secretary and a member of its publicity committee, said the money would now be diverted to print. Most of it will be utilised for placing advertisements in smaller newspapers, he added. He agreed that the EC's order would have an impact on southern states, where private TV channels had made inroads into numerous regions.
The Congress has already commissioned four advertisements for television, each with a duration of one minute. The party has spent about Rs 5 crore on publicity material. It will also have to cough up more than Rs 5 crore for star campaigner Sonia Gandhi's tour.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
