The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has rejected claims from the Congress party that it blocked an SMS campaign linked to a documentary about electoral wrongdoing in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
On Sunday, the Congress accused the telecom regulator of rejecting its request to send bulk SMS to its Maharashtra members. This message contained a link to a YouTube documentary titled 'How the MH 2024 election was stolen'. The party stated that TRAI dismissed the request, calling the message "protest content".
In a statement released today, the regulator clarified that it did not receive any application for approval of the SMS in question.
"TRAI does not approve individual SMS templates. The rejection, as shown in the circulating photograph, seems to have come from the service provider, STP, not TRAI," the authority explained.
However, the Congress raised concerns about what it described as "coordinated suppression of information" by various government agencies, including the Home Ministry, Election Commission, and telecom regulators.
"How is there such perfect coordination between these bodies to block our outreach? Does one need more evidence of the MH election fraud than these actions to suppress and hide information?" Praveen Chakravarty, Congress spokesperson, said.
The controversy arises from the opposition party's ongoing campaign, which claims that the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election was manipulated. The YouTube documentary, which the party tried to promote via SMS, claims to outline alleged irregularities in the election process.
TRAI reiterated that bulk SMS regulation is governed by the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations. These rules allow service providers to review and block content that violates set standards, but the telecom regulator itself does not interfere with individual campaign messages.
