BJP's NaMo TV vanishes from all platforms as Lok Sabha election ends

BJP's NaMo TV vanishes from all platforms as Lok Sabha election ends

Pulling the plug on NaMo TV suddenly after the elections has raised serious questions about the various loopholes in the system

Advertisement
BusinessToday.In
  • May 20, 2019,
  • Updated May 20, 2019 9:41 PM IST

NaMo TV has disappeared from the set-top box as mysteriously as it appeared on them, raising many eyebrows. The channel made its way on various service provider's platform before the General Elections 2019 on March 26. Being funded by the Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it started a controversy with the opposition leaders calling NaMo TV a propaganda machine as it showed PM's rallies, interviews, features of government schemes and other BJP leaders' interviews.

Advertisement

Direct to Home (DTH) operators -- Tata Sky, Videocon and Dish TV -- aired NaMo TV as a free-to-air service to their subscribers. The channel was available across the nation. However, when the issue was brought to the notice of the Election Commission of India, they sought clarification from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ministry's response that NaMo TV was an "advertisement based platform" added fuel to fire as the channel distributed by several DTH operators at the expenses of the ruling BJP. The ministry added NaMo wasn't a registered channel that needed permission to air.

NaMo TV has disappeared from the set-top box as mysteriously as it appeared on them, raising many eyebrows. The channel made its way on various service provider's platform before the General Elections 2019 on March 26. Being funded by the Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it started a controversy with the opposition leaders calling NaMo TV a propaganda machine as it showed PM's rallies, interviews, features of government schemes and other BJP leaders' interviews.

Advertisement

Direct to Home (DTH) operators -- Tata Sky, Videocon and Dish TV -- aired NaMo TV as a free-to-air service to their subscribers. The channel was available across the nation. However, when the issue was brought to the notice of the Election Commission of India, they sought clarification from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ministry's response that NaMo TV was an "advertisement based platform" added fuel to fire as the channel distributed by several DTH operators at the expenses of the ruling BJP. The ministry added NaMo wasn't a registered channel that needed permission to air.

Read more!
Advertisement