Reason why BJP-sponsored NaMo TV mysteriously went off-air

The chief electoral office in Delhi had also said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform be pre-certified by media certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately.

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New Delhi: Controversial NaMo TV has mysteriously gone off air. The BJP-sponsored channel television was launched two weeks before the commencement of Lok Sabha elections with an aim to publicize PM Narendra Modi’s rallies and other poll messages. To everyone’s surprise, the transmission of the channel was stopped on May 17 when all campaigns for the Lok Sabha election came to an end. A BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said, "NaMo TV was meant as a tool of BJP campaign for the Lok Sabha election. With the polls over, it is no longer needed, so effectively from May 17, when all campaign has to be paused, it has also gone off air." The channel was mired in controversy ever since it went on air. ABP VIP Exit Poll 2019: Modi triumphs again in Varanasi The chief electoral officer of Delhi had sent a notice to the BJP for "airing election-related content" on NaMo TV even after the silence period began, but the party had said they did not violate the model code of conduct. In April, after the Election Commission had directed that all recorded programmes displayed on NaMo TV be pre-certified, the Delhi poll body asked the BJP not to air any content on the platform without its certification. The chief electoral office in Delhi had also said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform be pre-certified by media certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately. ABP Exit Poll 2019: NDA helmed by Modi set to do an encore with 277 seats leaving UPA behind with 130 The commission had issued a notice seeking a report from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on NaMo TV, launched just weeks ahead of the general election, after opposition parties, including the Congress, asked the poll body to direct the ministry to suspend the channel in violation of the poll code. (With additional information from PTI)