NaMo Gujarat goes silent

Has Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s biggest media blitzkrieg fizzled out before a proper take off? A day after the launch of NaMo Gujarat, the IPTV-based cable network has gone blank.
The channel, which aired Modi’s speeches live on Thursday, went completely silent on Friday. NaMo Gujarat derives its name from the commonly-used initials of the CM.
The Election Commission of India had called a meeting of broadcasters and directed them to follow guidelines on paid news. The ECI officials also told broadcasters to stop telecast on networks without proper clearances. ECI officials refused to comment on representations made by the Congress leaders to investigate the funding of the channel, which was meant to strengthen Modi’s propaganda machinery ahead of the crucial assembly polls in December.
Congress leaders say if Modi is involved in the project, the expenses should be added to his election expenditure since the CM will also contest the polls.
Modi had roped in his trusted lieutenant Parindu Bhagat for the venture. Bhagat’s son Maulik, who runs several online initiatives in Modi’s support, manages the channel, which operates from a hi-tech studio in the plush Prahladnagar area of Ahmedabad. Initially named Na-Mo Bharat, Modi is said to have changed the channel’s identity at the eleventh hour.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has rubbished the claim by chief minister Narendra Modi that Rs 1,880 crore were spent on overseas visits of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, saying it was “untrue and misleading”.
The PMO underlined that the government had spent no money on Gandhi’s overseas visits or her medical treatment abroad or in India.
“Media reports quoting certain quarters about massive expenses from the exchequer on UPA chairperson’s overseas visits have been brought to the notice of the Prime Minister’s Office. The reports quoting an expense of Rs 1,880 crore are untrue and misleading,” the PMO said in a statement.
It did not name Modi who had r a ke d u p t h e claim but was clearly referring to it.
“The Central Information Commissioner (CIC) has already denied these reports and made a statement,” the statement said.
“The Prime Minister’s Office would like to put on record that the Government has incurred no expenses on UPA Chairperson’s visits abroad. Expenses for her security contingent are borne by the Special Protection Group,” it said. The PMO said that during the last 8 years, only one trip to Belgium undertaken at the invitation of the Belgian Government to receive a national honour was paid for by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The total cost was less than Rs 3 lakhs. “It is further clarified that the Government has not borne any expenses for UPA Chairperson’s medical treatment abroad and in India,” the statement said.
Chief minister Modi had made the claim citing an RTI reply but the RTI applicant had said the figure quoted by the Gujarat Chief Minister was grossly wrong.