The Election Commission has directed the Centre to remove pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from coronavirus vaccination certificat...
The Election Commission has directed the Centre to remove pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from coronavirus vaccination certificates in poll-bound states, days after the Trinamool Congress registered a complaint saying it violates the Model Code of Conduct, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
The model code came into force on February 26, the day the Election Commission announced Assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
The Election Commission had first asked the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal for a report on why Modi’s photo was being used on vaccination certificates generated through the Co-WIN platform, according to The Print. The state electoral officer responded, informing the poll panel that the vaccination drive was a central scheme.
The panel then took up the matter with the health ministry, and sought its response on the “factual position” on the use of the photographs. In its reply, the ministry said the vaccination drive was an ongoing government initiative that had started much before the Model Code of Conduct came into force.
“The health ministry replied to us saying that the vaccination scheme was rolled out before elections, and therefore the photo of the PM is digitally built into the certificates,” an unidentified EC official told The Print. “The ECI subsequently drew the ministry’s attention to the Model...
