ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi PRESS NOTE

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1 ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi No.MCS/PN/06/2001 Dated The 4 th April, 2001 PRESS NOTE Subject: General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Pondicherry, Allotment of Broadcast/Telecast Time to Political Parties. A copy of the Order No.437/MC&P/GE-LA/2001 dated 4 th April, 2001 issued by the Commission on the above mentioned subject is enclosed for the information of the general public. (K.R. PRASAD) SECRETARY

2 ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi No.437/MC&P/GE-LA/2001 Dated : April, 2001 ORDER At the time of General Elections to the Lok Sabha in February, 1998 the Election Commission of India had taken up a new initiative for state funding of recognised political parties through free use of state owned Television and Radio under directions of the Commission vide its Order dated 16 th January, The said scheme was subsequently extended to the following general elections:- Legislative Assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi,1998. Lok Sabha and certain State Legislative Assemblies, Legislative Assembly of Goa, Legislative Assemblies of Bihar, Haryana, Manipur and Orissa, The Commission is determined to carry forward this scheme and expand its scope. Accordingly it has now decided to extend the said scheme to the general election to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Pondicherry. The facilities for use of broadcast time and telecast time, will be available only to National Parties and Recognised State parties in the States of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The salient features of the scheme are as follow: The facilities will be available from the Regional Kendra of the All India Radio and Doordarshan and in the headquarters of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Pondicherry and relayed by other stations within these States/UT. A base time of minutes will be given to each National/State Parties uniformaly on the Regional Kendra of Doordarshan network and All India Radio network in the State of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The National and the State Parties will be treated at par for the Assembly elections.

3 The additional time to be allotted to the parties will be decided on the basis of the poll performance of the parties in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections from the State of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. In a single session of broadcast no party will be allocated more than 15 minutes. The period of broadcast and telecast will be between the last date of filling the nominations and will end two days before the date of poll in the States of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. However, there will be no telecast or broadcast during the 48 hours preceding the close of polls as per specific provisions of Representation of the People Act, The Prasar Bharati Corporation in consultation with the Commission will decide the actual date and time for broadcast and telecast. This will be subject to the broad technical constrains governing the actual time of transmission available with the Doordarshan and All India Radio. The guidelines described by the Commission for telecast and broadcast will be strictly followed. The parties will be required to submit to transcripts and recording in advance. The parties can get this recorded at their own cost in studios, which meet the tchnical standards prescribed by the Prasar Bharati Corporation or at the Doordarshan/All India Radio Kendras. They can, in the alternative, have these recorded in the studios of Doordarshan and All India Radio by advance requests. In such cases, the recordings may be done at the State Capital and at timings indicated by Doordarshan/All India Radio in advance. In addition to the broadcast by parties, the Prasar Bharati Corporation will organise a maximum of two panel discussion and/or debates on the Kendra/Station of Doordarshan/All India Radio. Each eligible party can nominate one representative to such a programme. The Election Commission of India will approve the names of coordinators for such panel discussions and debates in consultations with the Prasar Bharati Corporation. Time Vouchers will be available in the denomination of 5 minutes each and the parties will be free to combine them suitably. The allotment of time to different political parties is given in a statement enclosed. (K.R.PRASAD) SECRETARY

4 GENERAL ELECTIONS TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES, 2001 OF THE STATES OF ASSAM, KERALA, TAMIL NADU, WEST BENGAL AND UNION TERRITORY OF PONDICHERRY Time available to National/State Parties on Regional Kendras/ State Capital Kendras of Doordarshan/All India Radio Sl. No. Name of State Name of National/ State Party Total time allotted for Broadcast / Telecast (in minutes) (1) (2) (3) (4) I. ASSAM 1. BJP INC 7. AGP 8. ASDC* 9. CPI(ML(L) Mts. II. KERALA 1. BJP 5. INC

5 7. KEC 8. KEC(M) 9. MUL 10.RSP Mts.

6 III. TAMIL NADU 1. BJP 5. INC 7. ADMK 8. DMK 9. MDMK 10.TMC(M) 11.PMK Mts. IV. WEST BENGAL 1. BJP 5. INC 7. FBL 8. RSP 9. AITC Mts. V. PONDICHERRY 1. BJP 60

7 5. INC 7. ADMK 8. DMK 9. TMC(M) 10. PMK Mts. * In view of dispute in the party, the time allocated, shall be divided equally between the two rival groups viz., ASDC(U) and ASDC(P)

8 POLITICAL PARTIES ABBREVIATION STATUS NAME BJP N BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY BJP N BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY CPI N COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA CPM N COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXISM) INC N INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS NCP N NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY AGP S ASOM GANA PARISHAD ASDC (U) S AUTONOMOUS STATE DEMAND COMMITTEE (UNITED) ASDC(P) S AUTONOMOUS STATE DEMAND COMMITTEE (PROGRESSIVE) KEC S KERALA CONGRESS KEC(M) S KERALA CONGRESS (M) MUL S MUSLIM LEAGUE KERALA STATE COMMITTEE ADMK S ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM DMK S DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM PMK S PATTALI MAKKAL KATCHI TMK(M) S TAMIL MAANILA CONGRESS (MOOPANAR) MDMK S MARUMALARCHI DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM FBL S ALL INDIA FORWARD BLOC RSP S REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST PARTY AITC S ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS