At a time when the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government continues to face massive criticism over its mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis in the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi has resorted to spending taxpayers money on a lavish PR campaign.
In an effort to cover its failure to manage Covid-19 in the national capital, the Delhi government has once again decided to spend a lot of public money on advertisements to boost Arvind Kejriwal’s public image.
On Friday, the Delhi government ran a full-page advertisement not just in several national dailies but also in regional newspapers in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, etc., informing about the launch of a new scheme, “Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana”.
Under the scheme, the AAP-led Delhi government has claimed to provide financial assistance to the families of those who died of Covid-19. The Delhi government will offer a one-time compensation of Rs.50,000 to the next of deceased kin, and a monthly Rs.2,500 will be given to families who have lost their earning members.
Further, the Delhi government has claimed that children, who have lost their parents to Covid-19, will be provided with a monthly allowance of Rs.2,500 till they turn 25. The newly launched scheme is restricted to the residents of Delhi alone, and no other residents from any other state are eligible for this benefit.
However, despite this, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government has spent a massive amount of taxpayers money on running a PR campaign in several other states, whose residents have no stake in the “Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana”.
Below is the first page of Times of India today, which carried the full-page advertisement with Arvind Kejriwal’s photo.
Not just in Times of India, Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has spent lavishly on paid propaganda by publishing classified even in Hindi dailies such as Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, etc.
Here is an AAP advertisement published on page four of Hindi daily Amar Ujala:
Well, Arvind Kejriwal’s full paid PR is not just limited to Delhi and the neighbouring areas of the national capital. The Aam Aadmi Party-led government has spent considerable public resources to boost Kejriwal’s image in Gujarat when AAP is hoping to make inroads.
Delhi govt places advertisments in Gujarat:
Strangely, the Delhi government neither holds any stakes in Gujarat nor opened the scheme to the people of Gujarat. However, the Delhi government has run advertisements glorifying Arvind Kejriwal in not just one newspaper but in two other dailies.
Here is AAP-led Delhi government’s advertisement in Gujarati daily Sandesh.
Similarly, the Delhi government has published a full-page advertisement in Gujarati in another daily Gujarat Samachar.
Below is a Gujarati-ad featuring Arvind Kejriwal published by Divya Bhaskar on Friday ‘informing’ Gujarati people about Delhi’s “Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana”.
Maharashtra:
Delhi government’s advertisements about the welfare scheme for Delhi citizens has also been featured in Marathi-dailies such as Lokmat. Below is a Marathi advertisement run by Lokmat, fully paid for by the Delhi government.
In addition to Marathi dailies, Times of India and Indian Express have carried Delhi government advertisement in its Friday’s print editions.
Punjab:
The advertisements paid for by Delhi taxpayers also being published in Punjabi newspapers. Aam Aadmi Party has spent its both financial and political capital in Punjab to be a major political power. However, it is yet to make any substantial progress.
According to several social media users, the Delhi government has published advertisements concerning “Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana” in Bihar, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and many other states.
A social media user named Uchit Desai has pointed out that the Kejriwal-led Delhi government has paid for costly advertisements in at least 12 states across the country in an effort to boost his image.
— Uchit Desai (@uchitdesai) July 9, 2021
Another social media took to Twitter to say that the Delhi government advertisement appeared in newspapers published in Chattisgarh and Telangana too.
Arvind Kejriwal Led Delhi Govt Is Giving Advertisement’s In Marathi And Gujarati News-Papers Too.!!
— NewsBox India🚨 (@Newsbox_India) July 9, 2021
3️⃣ Chattisgarh
4️⃣ Telengana pic.twitter.com/G4cRobQe9u
Here is another social media user posting an image of Arvind Kejriwal advertisements featuring in the Raipur edition.
In Raipur edition. pic.twitter.com/I1bxCTBJwd
— Joker.. (@ramansahu2020) July 9, 2021
A similar advertisement was found in the Bhopal edition of Dainik Bhaskar on Friday, leading to people questioning social media the rationale behind the Delhi government spending huge money to boost its image in Madhya Pradesh on a scheme that is not even relevant to the state.
A Hindi daily in Bihar – Hindustan has also carried a similar advertisement praising Arvind Kejriwal for launching the Covid-19 relief scheme that is exclusive for citizens of Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal and his Delhi government’s fascination for PR propaganda is not a new phenomenon. Ever since Arvind Kejriwal became Chief Minister of Delhi, the AAP-led government has been spending a lot of public money on paid advertisements on media, especially mainstream media, to boost the image of Arvind Kejriwal.
It is important to mention that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had spent Rs 150 crores in just three months, between January 2021 to March 2021 on advertisements and publicity through various mediums instead of spending on setting up Covid-19 health infrastructure in the national capital. Kejriwal government has spent over Rs. 800 crores in advertisement expenses in the past two years.
The lavish PR propaganda of Arvind Kejriwal has met with severe criticism as several citizens have criticised the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government for wasting public resources on the advertisement and not on development programmes.
