The NDPP today stated that the party’s advertisement campaign in the print media, the displays on billboards and the posters and banners of the party and the alliance “have all been carried out with strict adherence to the model code of conduct.”
This statement, issued by the NDPP media and communications committee, comes a day after the Naga People’s Front (NPF) lodged a complaint with the Election Commission that the NDPP had violated the model code of conduct in one of their advertisements.
The NDPP countered that “no advertisement can be published or circulated without the prior clearance and approval of the Election Commission.”
“Each and every advertisement and publicity material of the NDPP and the NDPP-BJP Alliance have been released into the public domain only after orders of clearance issued by the election department after the contents, designs and dates of circulation/publication/display have been obtained from the Election Commission. These clearance documents are also released to the media institutions along with the advertisements to be published. Only after observance of multiple layers of clearance can an advertisement be published,” the NDPP explained.
The NDPP stated that the advertisement published on February 26 contained highlights of the Prime Minister’s speech which was delivered on February 22. “The advertisement did not make any commitment nor announce any package but rather repeated what was stated by the PM. Neither objection nor complaint was made on the PM’s speech within the stipulated time by anybody. We had committed that we endorse the clean election campaign and assure that we will not deviate from the model code of conduct,” it added.