EC asks AAP to modify poll song, party hits out
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday claimed the Election Commission (EC) has “banned” its Lok Sabha campaign song ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se Denge,’ but officials of the Delhi poll body said AAP was asked to modify the contents of the song since it violated EC’s guidelines and advertising codes.
The over two-minute campaign song, penned and sung by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey, was released at the party headquarters here on Thursday.
Sources from the Delhi chief electoral office said the song was not banned but the party was asked to resubmit the proposal with certain modifications, in accordance with the advertising codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, and ECI guideline/norms circulated through a letter dated August 24, 2023, for the certification.
The Delhi poll panel said certain images and phrases are “slanderous” remarks and “criticism of the ruling party on the basis of unverified facts” and also cast aspersions on the judiciary and the police.
Addressing a press conference, AAP senior leader Atishi accused the Election Commission of becoming a “political weapon of the BJP” and turning a blind eye to its violations.
She also asserted that the campaign song does not mention the BJP and does not violate the Model Code of Conduct.
“It includes factual videos and incidents, whether it is the picture of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, whether it is the video of the police’s misbehaviour with Manish Sisodia in the Rouse Avenue Court or the brutal detention of our volunteers in protests, everything is factual.
“Does the EC want to suppress the truth? Does the poll agency want to hide the misconduct of the police or the political misuse of the probe agencies by the BJP?” she asked.