PM Modi violates Model Code of Conduct but nobody expects ECI to act

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering a vitriolic political speech on Door Darshan and resorting to opposition-bashing on 18 April 2026, amounted to a violation of the model code of conduct, believes Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha. He is not alone. There are others who were left aghast by the prime minister’s address to the nation. It was a no-holds-barred attack on four political parties by name, namely Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party and appeared more suitable in a political rally or in parliament. An address to the nation should have been more statesmanlike, felt many listeners.

By convention, if not rule, political speeches and even advertisements by political parties are subjected to scrutiny by the Election Commission when the model code of conduct is in force. The government needed to seek permission from the ECI and possibly even submit the script for approval. There is no indication though that the ECI was consulted or of the ECI objecting to the speech, if it was not.

“A desperate and frustrated PM with nothing meaningful to show for the last 12 years, turned an official address to the nation, into a political speech, full of mudslinging, and outright LIES. The Model Code of Conduct is already in place and it was very clear how PM Modi misused official machinery to attack his opponents. This is a travesty of Democracy and the Constitution of India,” tweeted Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

Manoj Jha, the RJD MP, in a public appeal to the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, called upon the ECI to deem expenses incurred on the broadcast as part of the BJP’s election expense. Using government machinery for election campaign is also defined as a corrupt practice, he pointed out. The prime minister appears to be guilty of misusing his official position and misusing the official machinery, he felt. Others were quick to recall that former prime minister Indira Gandhi was disqualified in 1975 by the Allahabad High Court merely because her election agent had started working before his resignation from office was accepted by the government.

However, in 2024 when the PM arrived on an election campaign at Chilakaluripet in Andhra Pradesh in an Indian Air Force helicopter (with the tail number ZP 5236), a complaint was lodged for violation of the MCC that prohibits leaders from using official vehicles for campaigning. The objection was overruled. The

Trinamool Congress in fact complained that the Model Code of Conduct had been reduced to the ‘Modi Code of Conduct’ with the prime minister free to say and do what pleases him.

MCC rules stipulate in Section 7 dealing with the parties in power, the following: "... misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news... with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided." Netizens however seemed convinced that no action would be taken against the PM or officials in the PMO and Prasar Bharti. “Does the election commission of India even exist anymore? Is the Model Code of Conduct not in place before the state assembly polls? Is Modi above the law of the country to be allowed to make such a speech without his text being approved? If not, will he be censured by the ECI?” were some of the questions asked on social media.

Narendra Modi as chief minister of Gujarat was indeed pulled up by the ECI for violating the code in 2014 when he displayed his party’s symbol, the lotus, outside the polling booth when he came out after casting his vote. Since then, both critics and independent observers believe that PM Modi has been guilty of worse violations but the ECI has never pulled him up except once when it sent a notice to the BJP and Congress presidents suggesting that they rein in Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, against whom complaints had been received for violation of the model code.

In recent years the MCC has virtually ceased to exist with the ECI using it selectively to warn mostly leaders and candidates of the opposition. In 2023 the election commission issued a show cause notice to the Aam Aadmi Party for making “disparaging” remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on its social media handle. The notice served after BJP sought action against AAP for posting a “very unacceptable” and “unethical” video clip and remarks against Modi featuring the PM and a leading industrialist. The ECI however is unlikely to see the PM’s address to the nation as an even more egregious violation.

“Free and fair elections are a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Article 324 confers on the Election Commission, plenary powers to enable it to ensure a free and fair election,” and a level playing field, wrote P.D.T. Achary in The Hindu. The election commission has in the past placed a ban on violators campaigning for a day or two. It can also take the violator off the entire campaign till the completion of polling. The

Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order of the ECI says that in case of violation of the model code of conduct or other direction or orders of the commission, it can suspend the recognition of a party, or, in an extreme case, even withdraw its recognition.