Congress MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing on law Shantaram Naik on Saturday accused the Election Commission of going beyond its jurisdiction to issue guidelines on the use of social media for poll campaigns. In a statement, Naik questioned the authority of the Commission on issuing such directions, claiming it lacks substance of law.
“If the Commission quotes Article 324 of the Constitution, which , they have , in any case not quoted in the instructions, it will not be fair from any angle as the Article gives only supervisory jurisdiction to the commission in the matter of conducting of elections and preparation of electoral roll,” Naik said in his statement.
Naik also claimed to media that he had contacted senior Election Commission officials about his displeasure as Parliamentary chief. Naik said that issuing such elaborate instructions to regulate social media campaigns of candidates and political parties did not fall within the jurisdiction of the EC. He said EC had only “supervisory jurisdiction in matters of conduct of elections and preparation of electoral rolls.
The EC had on Friday issued detailed guidelines to regulate internet campaigns on Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, asking candidates to declare their social media accounts and all political parties to pre-certify advertisements before they are posted on social media websites.
The Commission’s in its detailed guidelines even asked candidates to declare their identities on internet and including email accounts in the nomination forms. The expenditures on social media campaign will also be audited by the poll panel.