While the CEO had a lot of innovations to offer, the election office had to also face the wrath of journalists on several occasion for lack of information. For the very first time, media houses failed to publish the final list of candidates on the day after withdrawals, as the CEO were not in a position to provide the details. Moreover, lack of coordination within the CEO office led to misinformation on total number of candidates. Until January 24 total number of candidates was 250, which went up by one – 251 – after a political party complained that their candidate’s name did not figure in the final list of candidates.
CEO IAS Kunal who had initiated step to be connected with media via a whatsapp group was found less active during the model code of conduct phase. Despite the media raising several queries on seizures and other reports, there was no communication from the CEO office. Several senior journalists, were seen complaining that for the very first time, the media was seen begging for information before the election office.
