Public funds being used to build brand Kejriwal?

BJP wants TV advertisement withdrawn as it brands politicians, officials and media as villains

GN Bureau | June 20, 2015


#aap   #arvind kejriwal   #bjp   #congress   #television   #tv   #advertisement  

The Bharatiya Janata Party has termed the advertisement of the AAP-led Delhi government that is being broadcast on television channels as a "violation" of the supreme court's order and threatened to approach the apex court. The BJP wants it be withdrawn soon.

The advertisement campaign is a two-minute TV spot in which it makes claim that Kejriwal has money to spare for improving the life of people because of what he has saved by stopping corruption. The campaign is expected to run for a week and the slots have cost the state exchequer about Rs 1.5 crore.

Decrying "personality cult" as an anti-thesis of democracy, the SC had recently barred publication of photos of leaders in government advertisements except those of the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

The BJP has objected to the implied meaning of the advertisement. BJP's national secretary R P Singh said even though chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's face is not seen, the way his name has been repeatedly taken as a 'messiah of poor' while leaders of other political parties, administrative officials and media have been projected as villains was a gross "violation" of apex court's order.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit called the advertisement as ‘pathetic’ and said that it only glorified Kejriwal as an equal to god.

“I have never seen such an advertisement anywhere in India where a person is glorified almost to be equal to God perhaps that is what [Arvind] Kejriwal ji thinks he is. It is complete misuse of money and it is full of lies,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Swaraj Abhiyaan has termed the Delhi government's latest TV commercials as an example of "political corruption" and "highly regressive". Swaraj Abhiyaan leader Prashant Bhushan in a series of tweets said the ad amounted to a "crass" projection of Kejriwal apart from being "crude abuse" of funds, which was "against" a supreme court order.

"Apart from being a crass and crude abuse of funds the Kejriwal ad on TV is sexist and projects women as servants of their husbands. Shocking," Bhushan, a senior Supreme Court lawyer tweeted.

The group, of which Yogendra Yadav is also a member, also attacked the ad for being "misleading" as it came in the backdrop of "6 per cent rise in power tariffs."

"The heart of the problem, however, is that this TV commercial unashamedly abuses public funds to create a personality cult for Arvind Kejriwal. It sings paeans of the AAP leader and tries to project him as a messiah," added the statement.

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