Karnataka Elections 2023 LIVE Updates: Campaigning Ends Today; No Uncertified Advertisements During Silence Period, Says EC

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four-decade-old pattern of alternating government in the southern state.

Congress, on the other side, is hoping to get back in power in the state again to boost the morale of the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

In the 224-member Assembly, both major parties, BJP and Congress, are aiming at a ‘government with full majority’. The ruling BJP is facing a tough challenge to retain power as it battles allegations of corruption, communal polarisation and demands for caste reservation – all of which could upset the saffron cart.

The saffron party has been preparing to fight the anti-incumbency in this all-important assembly election, and is using its ‘development card’ to counter the anti-corruption campaign run by rival Congress.

Wanting to emerge as ‘king’ and not ‘kingmaker’, the JD(S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda was seen putting all its might into campaigning. It is hoping to get the required numbers to form a government on its own.

No Uncertified Advertisements During Silence Period: EC to Parties

No party or candidate shall publish any advertisement in the print media on the poll day and one day prior without clearance from the media certification and monitoring committee, the Election Commission said on Sunday in an advisory ahead of the May 10 voting in Karnataka.

Forty-eight hours before the end of polling are considered the silence period.

In the advisory to political parties, the poll authority also emphasised on “clean and serious” campaign as electioneering reached feverish pitch in the southern state. It noted that advertisements of offending and misleading nature vitiate the entire election process.

On complaints against advertisements in the media, the Commission said national parties and star campaigners were duty bound to adhere to the expected standards of campaign discourse.

In a separate letter to editors, the Election Commission (EC) made it clear to them that the Press Council of India’s norms for journalistic conduct hold them responsible for all matters, including advertisements, published in their newspapers.

“If responsibility is disclaimed, this shall be explicitly stated beforehand,” the Commission said in a letter to editors of newspapers in Karnataka.

The advisory to political parties stated that advertisements on the election day and one day prior to the poll day will have to be pre-certified by the media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC).

The advisory also asked political parties and candidates to apply to the MCMC two days prior to the proposed date of publication of advertisement on poll day and one day prior to poll day.

The Commission said that instances of advertisements of offending and misleading nature published in the print media have been brought to the notice of the Commission in the past.

As the campaigning for the May 10 elections reached a fever pitch with politicians hurling barbs such as “poisonous snake”, “vishakanya” and “nalayak beta” at each other, the Election Commission on May 2 issued an advisory asking political parties and their star campaigners to exercise caution and restraint in their utterances and not to vitiate the election atmosphere.

Read all the Latest Politics News and Karnataka Elections 2023 updates here