‘MCC breach’: Left parties complain to EC over Modi’s Doordarshan address

Two Left parties have written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's televised address to the nation on April 19 violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which is currently in force in five states heading to polls.

CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby and CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar wrote separately to the poll panel, alleging misuse of public broadcaster Doordarshan to influence voters in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, among other states.

CPI(M) calls it flagrant breach

In his letter, Baby described the address as a "serious violation" of the MCC, saying the prime minister had misused Doordarshan to deliver what he called a political speech. "The content, tone, and messaging of the address can by no stretch of imagination be termed as governmental communication," Baby said. He alleged it was "blatantly political, targeting the opposition parties, naming many of them, and seeking to influence public opinion, including the voters of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, in favour of the ruling party."

Baby said this constituted a "flagrant breach" of Section 4 of the MCC under the heading 'Party in Power', and urged the EC to "take cognisance of this violation and urgently initiate appropriate proceedings against the Prime Minister and concerned authorities."

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CPI flags misuse of state resources

CPI's Sandosh Kumar said the address contained "partisan assertions" and "selective narratives" aimed at influencing public opinion on a matter under active political contestation. He said the broadcast on Doordarshan and Sansad TV amounted to misuse of state resources.

"The use of publicly funded platforms for what is essentially a political speech constitutes a grave breach of electoral norms," Kumar said. He cautioned that inaction could erode public confidence in the poll body and signal "institutional complicity."

What the PM's address said

The address was delivered on April 18, a day after the Lok Sabha rejected a Constitution Amendment Bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures under the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam. In his address, Modi criticised the Congress and its allies for voting against the bill, saying they had committed the "sin of foeticide" and would face punishment from women voters. He apologised to women and said the government would continue its efforts to empower them despite the bill's defeat.

Opposition's counter

Congress, DMK, and TMC denied being anti-women, arguing the BJP had deliberately bundled the women's reservation bill with a delimitation exercise as a political trap ahead of elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. They maintained that expanding the Lok Sabha to 816 seats based on the 2011 Census would penalise southern states that had controlled population growth, and that women's reservation could be implemented on the existing 543 seats without a controversial delimitation exercise.