New Delhi, May 20: NaMo TV, a BJP-sponsored channel that publicised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies and other poll messages, has gone off air, party sources said.

They said it went off air on May 17 when all campaigns for the Lok Sabha election came to an end.

A BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said, "NaMo TV was meant as a tool of BJP campaign for the Lok Sabha election. With the polls over, it is no longer needed, so effectively from May 17, when all campaign has to be paused, it has also gone off air."

The channel was mired in controversy ever since it went on air.

The chief electoral officer of Delhi had sent a notice to the BJP for "airing election-related content" on NaMo TV even after the silence period began, but the party had said they did not violate the model code of conduct.

In April, after the Election Commission had directed that all recorded programmes displayed on NaMo TV be pre-certified, the Delhi poll body asked the BJP not to air any content on the platform without its certification.

The chief electoral office in Delhi had also said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform be pre-certified by media certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately.

The commission had issued a notice seeking a report from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on NaMo TV, launched just weeks ahead of the general election, after opposition parties, including the Congress, asked the poll body to direct the ministry to suspend the channel in violation of the poll code.

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Mangaluru: To clear extra passenger rush during the Vishu festival, the Southern Railway has announced special train services between Mangaluru Central and Chennai Egmore.

According to an official release, Train No. 06126 Mangaluru Central-Chennai Egmore Special will depart Mangaluru Central at 4:00 pm on April 6 and 13, reaching Chennai Egmore at 10:30 a.m the next day.

In the return direction, Train No. 06125 Chennai Egmore-Mangaluru Central Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 2:00 pm on April 7 and 14 and arrive at Mangaluru Central at 6:50 am the following day.

The train will have two AC two-tier, eight AC three-tier, six sleeper class, four general second class coaches, one Divyangjan-friendly coach, and one luggage-cum-brake van.

In a seperate announcement, the southern railway also announced special service between between Bengaluru Cantonment and Dr. MGR Chennai Central to manage the extra rush of passengers.

Train No. 06545 will depart from Bengaluru Cantonment at 08:05 am on Thursday, 9th April and is scheduled to reach Chennai Central at 3:00 pm on the same day. The return service, Train No. 06546, will leave Chennai Central at 4:45 pm on the same day and reach Bengaluru Cantonment at 11:00 pm.