Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Karnataka Anil Kumar Jha on Tuesday appealed to the media to conduct election analyses impartially and remain a positive partner to ensure free and fair polls.
Polling for the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for April 17 in Karnataka.
He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Elections and media’ organised by the CEO’s office and the Department of Information.
Referring to the media’s role after the announcement of the elections, Mr. Jha said the Election Commission had no powers to issue any directive to the media on news coverage. Making news quoting the views of the public would harm the credibility of media organisations as well journalists, he said.
“We expect the media to remain a positive partner in our campaign to ensure free and fair elections and high turnout on the voting day.”
The CEO’s office was working under “severe constraints”, with limited resources available for ensuring free and fair elections, Mr. Jha, said. His office had been drawing officials from government departments for election-related work, he said. Baskar Hegde, chief of bureau, Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore, stressed the need for journalists to exercise self-restraint while covering election campaigns. Ponnuraj, Special Officer (Expenditure), CEO’s office, and senior journalists Eshwar Daitota, H.R. Sreesha, and G.N. Mohan spoke.
