Election Commission press release · 6 April 2026 · pibtracker filter

General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Pre-certification of print-ads by MCMC on Pre-poll and Poll Day

PRID2249301 MinistryElection Commission Released6 April 2026 Reading8 min

Posted On: 06 APR 2026 3:02PM by PIB Delhi 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 level. 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, precertification of ads in poll-bound states/UT are necessary as per the schedule given below: Name of State/UT going for general elections Poll Date Dates of publication for which Precertification of print ads is mandatory Assam, Kerala and Puducherry 09.04.2026 08.04.2026 & 09.04.2026 Tamil Nadu 23.04.2026 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 West Bengal 23.04.2026 (Ph-I) 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 29.04.2026(Ph-II) 28.04.2026 & 29.04.2026 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. ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2249301) Visitor Counter : 2525 Read this release in: Malayalam , Urdu , हिन्दी , Bengali , Bengali-TR , Assamese , Punjabi , Gujarati , Tamil , Telugu Election Commission General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Pre-certification of print-ads by MCMC on Pre-poll and Poll Day Posted On: 06 APR 2026 3:02PM by PIB Delhi 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 level. 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, precertification of ads in poll-bound states/UT are necessary as per the schedule given below: Name of State/UT going for general elections Poll Date Dates of publication for which Precertification of print ads is mandatory Assam, Kerala and Puducherry 09.04.2026 08.04.2026 & 09.04.2026 Tamil Nadu 23.04.2026 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 West Bengal 23.04.2026 (Ph-I) 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 29.04.2026(Ph-II) 28.04.2026 & 29.04.2026 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. ********** PK/GDH/RP (Release ID: 2249301) 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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">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 level.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Accordingly, precertification of ads in poll-bound states/UT are necessary as per the schedule given below:</li>   <table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#ccc" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="Table" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:141.55pt"> Name of State/UT going for general elections </td> <td style="width:120.5pt"> Poll Date </td> <td style="width:256.85pt"> Dates of publication for which Precertification of print ads is mandatory </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:141.55pt"> Assam, Kerala and Puducherry </td> <td style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:120.5pt"> 09.04.2026 </td> <td style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:256.85pt"> 08.04.2026 & 09.04.2026 </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:141.55pt"> Tamil Nadu </td> <td style="width:120.5pt"> 23.04.2026 </td> <td style="width:256.85pt"> 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 </td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2" style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:141.55pt"> West Bengal </td> <td style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:120.5pt"> 23.04.2026 (Ph-I) </td> <td style="background-color:#f1f1f1; width:256.85pt"> 22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026 </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:120.5pt"> 29.04.2026(Ph-II) </td> <td style="width:256.85pt"> 28.04.2026 & 29.04.2026 </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <li style="text-align: justify;">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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">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.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">MCMCs shall also keep a strict vigil on suspected cases of paid news in the media and take suitable action.</li> ********** PK/GDH/RP " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); // } //} var synth = window.speechSynthesis; function CleanHtml(html) { html = html.replace(/ /gi, ''); return html; } function stripHtml(html) { let tmp = document.createElement("DIV"); tmp.innerHTML = CleanHtml(html); return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || ""; } $(document).ready(function () { //for responsive tables $("table").each(function () { if (!$(this).closest(".table-responsive").length) { $(this).wrap(" "); } }); var width = $(window).width(); if (width $(document).ready(function () { var width = $(window).width(); if (width @media print { .sticky-social, .sticky-social_mb, .pull-right, #printPDF { display: none !important; } } .f_vl { padding-right: 30px; font-size: 17px; cursor: pointer; } .log_oo { // width: 20%; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; } .log_oo img { width: 150px; /*width: 100%; height: auto;*/ } .sticky-social_mb { position: fixed; bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 100%; } .social_mb { list-style: none; display: flex; width: 100%; margin-bottom: -8px; } .social_mb a { padding: 8px 0px; font-size: 30px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; width: 20% !important; text-align: center; } .section1 { position: relative; padding: 10px 0px; width: 100%; } .sticky-social { position: fixed; top: 20px; left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } .social { list-style: none; } .social a li { padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 25px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; } .social a li:hover { margin-right: -30px; box-shadow: 2px 5px 10px grey; } .social a li:hover .fa { margin-left: 20px; } .fb_b { /* background-color: rgb(59, 89, 152);*/ background-color: rgba(65,103,178,255); } .twitter_r { /* background-color: rgb(29, 161, 242);*/ background-color: #000000; } .whatsapp_r { /* background-color: rgb(77, 194, 71);*/ background-color: rgba(13,191,67,255); } .fa-envelope_r { /* background-color: rgb(219, 68, 55);*/ background-color: #e2123d; } .fa-linkedin_r { background-color: rgb(0, 119, 181); } @media only screen and (max-device-width: 767px) { p span img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } p img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } h2 { font-size: 20px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } h3 { font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } } /* === Film Roll Badge Styling(IFFI2025 countdown) === */ .film-roll-badge { position: absolute; top:82%; right: 20px; width: 230px; height: 70px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 18px, #6e2b8b 18px, #6e2b8b 36px ); border-top: 8px solid #9a2375; border-bottom: 8px solid #9a2375; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); animation: moveFilm 8s linear infinite; z-index: 10; } /* film sprocket holes */ .film-roll-badge::before, .film-roll-badge::after { content: ""; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 10px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 10px, #fff 10px, #fff 20px ); left: 0; z-index: 2; } .film-roll-badge::before { top: -4px; } .film-roll-badge::after { bottom: -4px; } .film-roll-inner { position: relative; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; animation: flicker 2s infinite ease-in-out; } .countdown-text { font-size: 1.3rem; font-weight: 700; color: #fff; text-shadow: 0 0 6px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4), 0 0 10px #000; white-space: nowrap; } /* === Animations === */ @keyframes moveFilm { 0% { background-position: 0 0; } 100% { background-position: 120px 0; } } @keyframes flicker { 0%, 100% { opacity: 1; } 50% { opacity: 0.9; } 25% { opacity: 0.95; } 75% { opacity: 0.85; } } /* === Responsive Adjustments === */ @media (max-width: 1500px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 68%; right: 18px; /* width: 220px; */ height: 65px; font-size: 0.85rem; } .press-section { margin-top: 35px; } } @media (max-width: 992px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 52%; right: 10px; width: 200px; height: 60px; } } @media (max-width: 768px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 56%; right: 10px; width: 124px; height: 55px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.9rem; } } @media (max-width: 576px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 59%; right: 5px; /* width: 160px; */ height: 50px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.85rem; } } const festivalStart = new Date("2025-11-20T00:00:00").getTime(); const festivalEnd = new Date("2025-11-28T23:59:59").getTime(); const countdownElement = document.getElementById("countdown"); const interval = setInterval(() => { const now = new Date().getTime(); // BEFORE FESTIVAL — show days + hours left if (now = festivalStart && now el.style.width = "350px"); clearInterval(interval); } }, 1000); //

For UPSC

Applications for ad pre-certification must reach the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at least two days before proposed publication; Assam, Kerala, Puducherry vote April 9, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Phase-I) on April 23, 2026.

Original PIB release
pib.gov.in · PRID 2249301

Open on PIB ↗

General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Pre-certification of print-ads by MCMC on Pre-poll and Poll Day

For UPSC

More from this day