Explained: Rules for political parties to use state-funded media during polls

However, according to a Prasar Bharati official, the TV and radio networks were simply following rules set by the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the use of state-controlled media by recognised parties during elections. Prasar Bharati is India’s state-run public broadcaster and the parent organisation of Doordarshan and AIR.

Allocation of time on state media

Recognised political parties have been allowed to freely use state-owned television and radio during polls since the 1998 Lok Sabha elections. The ECI decides how much time each recognised national and state party will be allotted prior to the start of the election campaign.

National parties, all put together, get a minimum of 10 hours of telecasting time on Doordarshan’s national channel, and at least 15 hours on its regional channels. They also get 10 hours of broadcasting time on the national hook-up of AIR and 15 hours of broadcasting on regional AIR stations. State parties, all put together, get a minimum of 30 hours of telecasting time on the appropriate regional Doordarshan channel and AIR radio station.

On March 28, the ECI allocated broadcast and telecast time to each of the six national parties — AAP, BSP, BJP, CPI(M), Congress, and Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party — and 59 state parties for the 2024 elections. For national parties, out of the 10 hours prescribed, a total of 4.5 hours (45 minutes each) was allocated in both Doordarshan and AIR. The remaining 5.5 hours was further allocated on the basis of voteshare in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Similar formulae was followed while allocating time to state parties.

Guidelines on speeches’ contents

Parties and their speakers are expected to submit transcripts of their speeches three to four days before recording — these have to be approved by the concerned authorities in the respective AIR and Doordarshan stations.

The ECI’s guidelines forbid “criticism of other countries; attack on religions or communities; anything obscene or defamatory; incitement of violence; anything amounting to contempt of court; aspersions against the integrity of the President and judiciary; anything affecting the unity, sovereignty and integrity of the nation; and any criticism by name of any person”.

However, both Devarajan and Yechury, whose edited speeches were aired on Doordarshan on April 16, were not happy with the changes made to their speech.

“The censorship applied to the text of my address on Doordarshan is a patent denial of the right to dissent in a democracy… The deletion of the word ‘bankruptcy’ of governance and the suggestion to replace it with ‘failure’ only endorses the authoritarian character of the government,” Yechury wrote in a letter to Director General, Doordarshan.

Devarajan told The Indian Express that after he was told to drop the word ‘Muslims’ from his speech, he (unsuccessfully) argued for the need to use the word to emphasise that the CAA is “discriminatory to Muslims as the law mentions every other minority community eligible for citizenship”.

The ECI had allocated 54 minutes each on Doordarshan and AIR to CPI(M), and 26 minutes each on the two media to AIFB.