Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Congress on Sunday approached the Election Commission against a BJP video advertisement for Jharkhand, which it claimed made allegations against top leaders of JMM, Congress and RJD, including that they were anti-tribals.
Party's General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh wrote to the EC on the video advertisement posted on the Facebook page of BJP Jharkhand unit in which actors resembling Rahul Gandhi, Hemant Soren, Kalpana Soren and Tejashwi Yadav made comments that were "blatantly" false.
"One of the allegations is that these leaders are 'anti-adivasi' (against the tribals) who are banding together under the garb of being pro-adivasis to ultimately serve their own personal agendas," Ramesh wrote.
The video showed actors resembling the I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders making comments like pay money and get question papers in advance, a former Prime Minister ordering police to shoot protesters demanding Jharkhand and one party being opposed to the formation of a separate state.
Ramesh said the advertisement by the BJP is rife with baseless allegations and falsehoods whose sole purpose is to unduly influence voters to dissuade them from voting for any opposition party and for the BJP to make unfair electoral gains in Jharkhand.
He said the contest of the advertisement is in "complete violation" of the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Ramesh said there is no plausible scenario in which the EC would have allowed the publication of such an advertisement, which is a legal requirement during elections.
"We request that the EC directs the immediate takedown of all videos and consequently takes urgent action against the BJP and its official Facebook handle for Jharkhand ie BJP4Jharkhand," he said.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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