Al Ngullie
Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 20
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has defined the time slots and duration political parties in Nagaland must use when using broadcast Media platforms such as television and radio during the forthcoming general elections scheduled to be held from February 23. The ECI’s notice was issued on January 18 and stipulated airtime for the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF), opposition Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bahujan Samata Party (BSP).
Most strangely, the ECI’s list of political parties in Nagaland also included two political parties the State most Nagas are ‘foreign’ to as yet – the “CPI” and “CPI (M).” Nonetheless, “CPI” and “CPI (M)” were also listed amid the NPF and INC. Citizens may note here that there are no Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) units in Nagaland.
The ECI set clear time slots and their duration the political parties must adhere to when using the national/State-owned broadcast Media for electioneering and associated electoral purposes. The state-owned Media the commission refers to are regional Kendras, State Capital Kendras of Doordarshan and All India Radio (or ‘AIR’).
For those who enjoy details, the INC has got a bigger chunk of airtime than the NPF, at least according to the commission’s order received here.
The NPF is allotted 179 minutes each for broadcast and telecast, the election commission’s order obtained here said. The time-voucher the party has received is 35 minutes each for both, again. The opposition Congress will enjoy a comparatively longer limelight on the screen – 189 minutes each for broadcast and telecast with a time voucher of 37 minutes for each of the two platforms.
Likewise, the BSP is allotted 45 minutes each for broadcast and telecast; the BJP 66 minutes for both; the NCP receives 61 minutes each for both. As for the CPI and CPI (M) each of the two will receive 45 minutes each for the two platforms.
All said for the duration there are, however, rules the political parties must follow if they do not want to risk penalty. “The guidelines prescribed by the Commission for telecast and broadcast will be strictly followed. The parties will be required to submit transcripts and recording in advance. The parties can get this recorded at their own cost in studios, which meet the technical standards prescribed by the Prasar Bharati Corporation or at the Doordarshan/All India Radio Kendras,” the ECI said.
A “base time” of 45 minutes will be given to each national party and recognized state party (recognized in the respective states) uniformly on the Regional Kendra of Doordarshan network and All India Radio network in the State of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
Additional time to be allotted to them has been decided on the basis of the “poll performance of the parties in the last assembly election from the State of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura,” the Election commission said.
In a single session of broadcast, the ECI said, no party is to be allocated more than 15 minutes. The period of broadcast and telecast will be between the last dates of filing the nominations and will end two days before the date of poll in Nagaland. However, there will be no telecast or broadcast during the 48 hours preceding the close of polls as per specific provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951, the order said.
The commission will decide the actual date and time for broadcast and telecast. This will be subject to the broad technical constraints governing the actual time of transmission available with the Doordarshan and AIR, the ECI said.
Also, the ECI will approve the names of coordinators for panel discussions and debates in consultation with the Prasar Bharati Corporation. “Time vouchers will be available in the denomination of 5 minutes with one voucher having time allotment from 1 to 4 minutes and the parties will be free to combine them suitably. The allotment of time to different political parties is given in a statement enclosed herewith.”
The facility is available from the Regional Kendra of the All India Radio and Doordarshan and in the headquarters of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. It is available only to ‘national parties’ and “recognized state parties” in respect of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, the ECI stated.
