Unfazed Delhi govt comes up with another ad

The advertisement, with a tagline of “Wo pareshaan karte rahein, hum kaam karte rahein” (they troubled us but we continued with our work), shows the achievements of the government, especially in the recently passed budget.

Unperturbed by the criticism over the huge hike in its publicity budget and its television advertisements, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has released a new television ad attacking the Centre.

The advertisement, with a tagline of “Wo pareshaan karte rahein, hum kaam karte rahein” (they troubled us but we continued with our work), shows the achievements of the government, especially in the recently passed budget.

Sources said all major news channels were airing a 1.27-minute video at least 20 times in a day and approximately Rs 2-3 crore was being spent on it.

The advertisement starts with a newspaper clipping, focusing on stories on the recent confrontation with the centre. The ad in Hindi points out that ‘despite the Centre plotting against the AAP, they continued with the good work’.

“The advertisement shows a scene from the Delhi assembly wherein the voice of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia can be heard saying that he’s tabling the budget for this year. The advertisement highlights all achievements of the government, including doubling the education budget allocation, introducing 1000 new buses, reducing power bills, starting work in unauthorised colonies, creating one lakh new jobs, posting home guards in buses,” said a senior Delhi government official.

According to a senior Delhi government official, no money was spent on the making and production of the advertisement. “The deputy chief minister directly supervised the entire production work of the advertisement that has been created free of cost. Apart from involving his professional friends free of cost, he kept an eye on the overall arrangement. The advertisement has been produced inside the secretariat,” said a senior Delhi government official.

Recently, the government had increased its budget for information and publicity to Rs 526 crore, arguing that it would make the public aware of the government’s achievements and schemes.

Recently, lawyer and former AAP founder-member Prashant Bhushan had said the previous television and radio advertisements of the Delhi government violated the Supreme Court’s order and wasted taxpayers’ money.

He had said he would move the Supreme Court over the television ads too.