Election Commission Orders Removal of Controversial BJP Video in Jharkhand
On Sunday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued an order for the removal of a controversial video posted by the Jharkhand BJP on social media, citing a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the ongoing assembly elections. The directive came after a complaint from the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and its ally, the Congress, who described the video as “misleading and divisive.”
The ECI instructed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand to immediately take down the video from social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, invoking Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act. Additionally, the commission directed the state election authorities to issue a formal notice to the BJP and submit an action-taken report.
The video, posted on November 16 from the official BJP Jharkhand account, depicted a fabricated scenario in which a group of Muslim individuals allegedly takes over the home of a Hindu family supporting the JMM. The video included a poster resembling Chief Minister Hemant Soren with the slogan, “Pure Jharkhand ka kaya palat kar denge” (“We will change the composition of all of Jharkhand”).
Both Congress and JMM claimed the video violated the election rules that prohibit hate speech, misinformation, and defamatory content. They accused the BJP of using the video to influence voters with communal rhetoric. Congress also argued that the video spread a false narrative aimed at targeting a specific religious group, breaching the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Jharkhand’s CEO, K Ravi Kumar, confirmed that a First Information Report (FIR) had been filed, and a takedown notice had been issued to X/Twitter by DIG (Special Branch) S Karthik, who also serves as the state’s social media monitoring officer. A similar notice is still pending with Meta.
The JMM’s complaint emphasized that the video undermined voter confidence and disrupted the democratic process, accusing the BJP of attempting to gain unfair electoral advantage. The swift action by the ECI aims to uphold a free and fair election process in the state.
