Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said on Sunday that notices were being issued to the political parties for “paid articles” appearing in the media in violation of the model code of conduct.
In a release, Mr. Dwivedi said the candidates and parties, in whose favour articles had been published or broadcast, would be asked for an explanation. And, if they fail to respond, such content would be considered as paid and FIR filed for violating the code.
So far, 68 notices were issued under the general category violations. He said news articles that appear favouring a particular candidate or party, or against any party were being considered as “paid news.” So far, in 28 cases, about ₹16 lakh worth “paid news” articles had been identified and notices sent to the parties.
While nine notices were sent to the YSRCP for paid articles worth ₹5.17 lakh, 19 were sent to the TDP for paid articles worth ₹10.91 lakh. The said amount would be considered as party expenditure.
Meanwhile, in the general, category violation, district election officers were asked to file FIRs in 68 cases regarding news reports.