Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 states on March 15,2026.

In order to ensure a fair campaign environment no political party, candidate, organization or person shall publish any advertisement in the print media on the poll day and one day prior to the poll day, unless the contents are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the State/ District leve1.

Individuals or contesting candidates can apply for certification of advertisements with District MCMC. All registered political parties headquartered in a State/UT can apply for certification of such advertisements with the State Level MCMC.

Accordingly, pre-certification of ads in poll-bound states/UT are necessary as per the schedule given below:

Applicants seeking pre-certification for political advertisements in print media must apply to the MCMC not later than two days prior to the proposed date of publication of the advertisement.

To facilitate timely pre-certification, MCMC at the State/District levels have been activated to examine and pre-certify such advertisements, and ensure decisions are made expeditiously.

MCMCs shall also keep a strict vigil on suspected cases of paid news in the media and take suitable action.

(DIPR)