In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of general elections in Delhi, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday asked the party to modify its campaign song for the Lok Sabha elections.
The poll panel said that the campaign song ‘jail ke jawaab me hum vote denge’ casts aspersions on the judiciary and violates the commission’s guidelines.
“The phrase ‘jail ke jawaab me hum vote denge’ showing an aggressive mob holding the photo of Arvind Kejriwal showing him behind bars, casts aspersions on the judiciary. Further, the said phrase appears several times in the advertisement which contravenes the provisions of ECI Guidelines and Rule 6(1(g) of Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994,” the ECI said.
The panel told the AAP to submit the song for certification after making the required changes.
Reacting to the poll panel’s order, AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi said that ECI banning the campaign song centred around Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest was another political weapon of the BJP.
“Another political weapon of the BJP, the Election Commission has put a ban on AAP’s campaign song. This has happened for the first time in the history of India, that the Election Commission has put a ban on the election song of a political party,” Atishi told news agency ANI.
The AAP leader questioned the alleged silence of the ECI when ED, CBI and other cases on political leaders are closed as soon as they join the BJP.
“The ECI does not object when the ED, CBI, and other cases on political leaders are shut as soon as they join the BJP, but when we mention that in our campaign song, the ECI objects to it… ECI says that if you talk about dictatorship, this is a criticism of the ruling party. This means that ECI also believes that the BJP is a dictatorship government,” she added.
