Poll body asks AAP to modify campaign song

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to modify the content of its election campaign song as per the advertising codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 and ECI guidelines.

The poll body also asked the party to resubmit the song after modification, for the certification. The development comes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

In an official statement, the Election Commission told the Aam Aadmi Party that the phrase "jail ke jawaab me hum vote denge" shows an aggressive mob holding the photo of Arvind Kejriwal showing him behind bars, which casts aspersions on the judiciary.

Further, the said phrase appears several times in the advertisement which contravenes the provisions of ECI Guidelines and Rule 6(1\(g) of Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, it stated.

Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Atishi termed the Election Commission a "political weapon of the BJP" and asserted that the poll body ignores the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the BJP.

"Another political weapon of the BJP, the Election Commission, has banned AAP's campaign song. This happened for the first time in the history of India when the Election Commission banned the election song of a political party. The same Election Commission ignores the violation of the MCC done every day by the BJP," Atishi said.

The AAP's over two-minute campaign song has been penned and sung by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey.The song was released at the party headquarters here on Thursday.