Government Advertisement For Campaigning

Home / Legal Explainers / Government & Elections / Elections / Campaigning & Elections / Government Advertisement For Campaigning

Government advertisements usually inform the public of their rights, duties and entitlements and also explain government policies, programmes, services and initiatives. In order to prevent achieve this purpose, government advertisements should be objective, politically neutral and should not promote the political interest of the ruling party.

For example, while advertising the mid-day meal scheme offered by the government, the ruling party cannot use these advertisements in order to glorify leaders and candidates of their party. Adding names and photos of the party leaders to these advertisements would be a violation of MCC.

Therefore during the time of the election, the ruling party cannot(( Rule VII – Party in Power, Model Code of Conduct – Election Commission of India, available at https://eci.gov.in/mcc/.)):

Use funds from public exchequer reserved for government advertisements for their own re-election.
Project a positive impression of the party in power or a negative impression of other political parties through these advertisements.

Content of Government Advertisements

Advertisement materials of the government must not(( State of Karnataka v. Common Cause and Ors., etc., (2016) 13 SCC 639)):

Mention the party in the government by name;
Directly attack the views or actions of others in opposition;
Include their own party political symbol or logo or flag;
Aim to influence public support for a political party, candidate for election; or
Refer to link to the websites of political parties or politicians.

Have a question you want to ask our legal experts?

Ask Nyaaya

Related Resources

Print Media and MCC

All print media including newspapers have to follow the rules under the MCC.

Unfair Election Practices by Candidates

There are many practices during an election campaign that candidates are not supposed to do, which count as unfair election practices by the candidates.

Use of Religion as a Basis for Campaigning

A party or candidate cannot campaign in any manner which would result in creating tension or hatred between different castes and religious communities.

Ban on Use of Official Vehicles during Campaigning

The use of any official vehicles for campaigning or election-related travel from the date of announcement of elections till the completion of elections is not allowed.

Use of Defence Forces for Campaigning

Political parties or candidates cannot use defence forces for campaigning purposes. They cannot use the photographs of any defence forces or army staff during their campaign.

What is the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)?

The MCC are rules and regulations for the actions of the political parties, candidates, people supporting them, civil servants during election time and anybody else who is associated with elections.