AAP campaign song faces Delhi election office heat

The AAP song, launched on April 25, raises allegations of dictatorial governance, unemployment, inflation, and conspiracy targeting opposition leaders.

The pre-certification committee in the office of the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) has rejected a campaign advertisement application of a song released by the Aam Aadmi Party for “casting aspersions on the judiciary”, “inciting violence”, presenting police “in bad taste”, and criticising the ruling party on “the basis of unverified facts”.

The AAP song, launched on April 25, raises allegations of dictatorial governance, unemployment, inflation, and conspiracy targeting opposition leaders. (HT Photo)

The committee, in a letter dated April 27, advised the AAP to modify the two-minute song and video accordingly.

During the model code of conduct, all political advertisements published via electronic media must be approved and certified by MCMC of the respective district or state, and the application must be made no later than three days prior to when the ad is to be broadcast.

The AAP song, launched on April 25, raises allegations of dictatorial governance, unemployment, inflation, and conspiracy targeting opposition leaders.

It is not clear why the pre-certification committee sent the letter two days after the song was released. HT has reached out to AAP for more details on when the song was submitted to the Delhi CEO for approval.

If the party chooses to appeal this, the plea must be sent to the state-level media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC), which is chaired by Delhi CEO P Krishnamurthy.

The media pre-certification committee found eight problematic parts in AAP’s song and told the party that the phrase “jail ke jawab hum vote se denge” (we will answer jail terms with our votes) shows an “aggressive mob” holding incarcerated AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s photo showing him behind the bars, which “casts aspersions” on the judiciary.

The committee said that the submitted transcript “has not been signed by the applicant”, and that the phrase “jail ka jawaab hum vote se denge” running from 1:49 to 1:59 is “missing from the submitted transcript”.

It said that the phrase “tanashahi party ko hum chot denge” (we will hurt the dictatorial party), which shows images of a clash between police and protesters, “apparently incites violence”. In its letter, it described this scene elsewhere as an “aggressive mob clashing with the police [that] shows criticism of the ruling party on the basis of unverified facts”.

The phrase “gunda gardi ke khilaf vote denge” [we will vote against hooliganism] and “tanashahi karne wali party ko hum chot denge” [we will hurt the dictatorial party] with the visuals of Manish Sisodia being escorted by police together “present the picture of police in bad taste”, the committee ruled.

The phrase “awazein khilaf thi jo sabko jail me daal dia, bas unko hi bahar rakha jisne inko maal dia. Itna lalach, itna nafrat, bhrastachari se mohabbat” (all those who criticised you were thrown in jail; only those who bribed you remained outside. So much greed, so much hatred, love for the corrupt) is “slanderous”, it said.

It ruled that three phrases — “jail ke jawab mein hum vote denge”, “gundagardi ke khilaf vote denge”, and “tanashahi party ko hum chot denge” — which appear multiple times in the song, violate paragraph 2.5(d) of the Election Commission of India guidelines dated August 24, 2023 on MCMC, pre-certification and paid news.