NEW DELHI: In a first, the Election Commission on Thursday issued separate notices to three parties — BJP, Congress and CPM — for their poll-eve and poll-day tweets either seeking votes in their favour or persuading electors to vote out the incumbent.

Assembly elections were held in Tripura on Thursday.Senior EC officials said this is a clear message to all parties ahead of the February 27 polls in Nagaland and Meghalaya as well as the general elections in 2024 that the campaigning restrictions during the 48-hour ‘silence period’ shall apply as much to the social media space and any violation will have consequences.While two notices were sent to BJP, one each was issued to Congress and CPM after tweets from their respective official handles were seen by the EC as violation of Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Commission on Thursday asked the respondents to take corrective action “at the earliest” and explain their stand on the violation latest by 5pm on Friday.Section 126(1)(b) of the RP Act, 1951 prohibits all forms of campaigning and display of any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or similar apparatus in a polling area for 48 hours prior to end of poll.

A violation entails imprisonment up to two years or fine, or both.

Sources said FIRs may follow if the EC concludes that the tweets indeed violated the Act.

This is for the first time that the poll panel has cracked down on the misuse of social media by parties for last-minute vote appeals.

Tripura Assembly polls: 259 candidates in fray for 60 seatsChief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar has earlier expressed concern over fake narratives propagated on social media.

The EC is already planning to order legal action against fake news during polls.EC sources told TOI that while 45 violations of Section 126(1)(b) were reported to its social media partners (SMPs) Twitter, Facebook and YouTube during state elections last year — 29 in Goa, five in Gujarat, eight in Himachal Pradesh and three in Punjab — they essentially involved news channels.

All 45 posts were removed — 17 by Twitter, 22 by Facebook and six by YouTube — as per the terms of the voluntary code of ethics that SMPs and the EC have agreed upon.While the voluntary code of ethics applies to social media posts by political parties, no action has been initiated so far against their vote-appeals on Thursday via Twitter.

However, Tripura Congress, upon receiving the EC notice, took the lead by deleting the relevant tweet: “People of Tripura spontaneously casting vote for Congress...

this time Congress will come”.

The two tweets from BJP’s official handle: one with a video clip that states “For a safe and brighter future, vote for BJP” and another with a photo and message “Unnato Tripura Shreshtho Tripura.

Vote for BJP” — as well as CPM’s tweet stating “Tripura under the BJP-IPFT rule has reached the verge of collapse in all respects, financial, social cultural and political...

Defeat BJP, elect a pro-people government”, are still visible on their timelines.