MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Congress has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) about the ruling Mahayuti alliance’s covert advertising through television serials.

Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant on Friday met state chief election officer S Chokalingam and lodged a complaint. Sawant said Mahayuti’s advertisement was clearly shown in Star Pravah’s Marathi serial ‘Gharoghari Matichya Chuli’, which was aired on Wednesday and re-aired on Thursday at 12 noon and 4 pm. Similarly, another advertisement was shown in another serial, Prema Chi Gosht, and most likely in other serials as well, he said. He claimed that the ad was played between scene transitions.

Sawant said that Disney Hotstar aired the episodes of the series but removed the advertisements.

“Mahayuti is not only morally corrupt, he also has no respect for democracy, the Constitution or the Electoral Commission. The Election Commission needs to find out how many such crooked tricks were used by the alliance. We strongly condemn this blatant abuse of the code of conduct and demand an FIR be lodged,” Sawant said.

The Election Commission said they would investigate the complaints.

Additionally, an Electronic Media Monitoring Center (EMMC) was established to monitor election-related news broadcasts on television channels. ECI will monitor all news on the eve of polling day and on the day of polling and will take action if any violations are detected.