Sonia Solanki COVID-19, Elections, Punjab Elections, UP Elections, Vaccine

PM Modi’s Photo, Name Removed From Vaccine Certificates In 5 Poll-Bound States

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo and name have been removed from the vaccination certificates in all the five poll-bound states. The move has been taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to comply with the Model Code of Conduct, which came into effect on Saturday.

The filters have been applied on the CoWIN app to remove PM Modi’s name and photo from the COVID-19 vaccination certificates. The dates for the assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur were released by ECI on Saturday.

PM Modi’s Photo And Name Removed From Vaccination Certificates

Why PM Modi’s Photo And Name Have Been Removed?

The move to repeal PM Modi’s photo and name from the vaccination certificates came as a measure to follow the Model Code of Conduct. It contains a set of guidelines released by ECI to regulate political parties and candidates prior to the upcoming elections. This ensures that elections are taking place in a free and fair manner.

According to PTI, the health ministry has applied the necessary filters to remove the photo and name on the CoWIN platform on Saturday night soon after the announcement of the poll schedules. A similar Model of Conduct was in play last year during the assembly elections held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.

Controversy Over PM’s Photo And Name On Vaccination Certificates:

The decision to use PM Mod’s name and photograph on the COVID-19 vaccination certificates receives a lot of criticism from the opposition parties till date.

Earlier, TMC said PM stands for ” Publicity Master”. Whereas, the Congress party said earlier that PM turns everything into an event to collect TRPs. The party further said that vaccination programmes have been running in this country for several other diseases but no political party leveraged them for personal gains.

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In response, the Centre stated in the Rajya Sabha that the aim to include PM Modi’s name and the photo is to create awareness. The message with PM’s photo will generate more recognition and realization among the common people to accept the vaccination.