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Journalism of Courage
IN THE wake of a query from the Prasar Bharati, the Election Commission is in a fix whether to allow telecast of films starring those Bollywood actors who have in the fray.
The Prasar Bharati’s action has made the EC think on the matter on an urgent basis and the poll panel is scheduled to deliberate on this ticklish issue this week. Unlike in the past, there are lots of stars from the tinsel world who are in the fray, including Govinda, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Jayaprada, Smriti ‘Tulsi’ Irani and a host of other stars are campaigning for different parties.
The Prasar Bharati had raised a query apparently as a matter of abundant precaution and is insisting on an early response from the poll panel. In 1996, the EC had banned telecast of films featuring Rajesh Khanna, who was contesting the LS polls then.
Since then, there has been a mushrooming of TV channels. EC sources feel that they can only control the public broadcaster but are not clear as to how much authority they can wield on private channels. This has been especially so in view of the controversy over the telecast of political advertisements on private channels.
