Delhi will have elections to elect councillors to MCD on 23rd April, and the political temperature is rising ahead of it. For AAP, it’s a bid to stay relevant in the Indian politics after a crushing defeat in Goa and Punjab. For the BJP, defeating AAP is a huge prestige issue after it was badly hammered in the Delhi Assembly elections, where AAP one 67 out of 70 seats. While for Congress, victory in MCD after winning Punjab will make them believe that the worst phase is over.
With stakes high for every party, the polls are being keenly contested. It has also attracted some controversy after the State Election Commission (SEC) found the AAP govt guilty of using its official position to influence voters and for making promises which many believe it wouldn’t be able to keep.
A new controversy was added to the list when BJP leader Vijender Gupta objected to a poster put up by the Aam Aadmi Party:
Does @ArvindKejriwal think MCD elections are a beauty contest?Such gimmicks reflect CM’s paranoia.I dare him for open debate on real issues. pic.twitter.com/caS1zSdJZK
— Vijender Gupta (@Gupta_vijender) April 9, 2017
Similar posters were put by AAP ahead of 2015 Delhi assembly elections too, where they had pitted Kejriwal against BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi, even though he was not the CM candidate of BJP. The party had termed the act of AAP “childish” then, but this time, they decided to act against it:
filed a complaint to SEC against AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal for affixing my distorted photographs in his election hordings pic.twitter.com/R0zpwbSPSf
— Vijender Gupta (@Gupta_vijender) April 10, 2017
In his letter [1][2], Gupta began by expressing his disgust at AAP and Kejriwal indulging in bad practices and breaching election rules. He claimed that his distorted picture was shown in the posters and claimed that the party had no permission to use his poster, distorted or otherwise. He asked the MCD to ensure that such posters were immediately removed.
The SEC seems to have addressed Vijender Gupta’s demands and has now sent a notice [1][2] to the AAP pointing out a clause in the model code of conduct, which mentions that parties should refrain from criticism based on a politicians private life, unverified allegations and distortions. The SEC has given AAP 48 hrs to respond to the commission.
In the meantime, BJP has put up its own posters.
In one such poster put up by Delhi BJP’s spokesperson Tajender Bagga, Arvind Kejriwal’s alleged samosa bill of 1 crore is highlighted:
In another poster, real images are used as against a cartoon for Kejriwal. Real images of various AAP leaders accused of various crimes have been highlighted in this poster:
AAP is yet to respond to these posters with new ones.
This isn’t the only time the posters created during elections have drawn widespread attention. Two Congress party workers named Haseeb Ahmad and Shreesh Chandra Dubey from Allahabad have elicited praise for the innovative posters they have been putting out.
