Kolkata, March 15 -- Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India alleging that the Government of India and Uttar Pradesh have published politically motivated advertisements in newspapers at the cost of the public exchequer.
The letter addressed to the chief electoral officer, West Bengal, stated that the advertisement published by the Government of India projects how much funds were released by it in favour of West Bengal and "to cover up the non-released entitled funds have cited reasons that are attributable to the actions or inaction(s) of the state government."
According to TMC, this was "a clear admission of the non-release of funds, which the State Government is entitled to receive under various schemes". It alleged that the state is being deprived "only because it does not have a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled government ("double-engine Sarkar" as coined by the BJP)." It also alleged that this advertisement showcases the various programmes and achievements undertaken by the Central Government while criticising the West Bengal government.
Further, TMC felt that this advertisement was further "buttressed" by the purported advertisement published by the Government of Uttar Pradesh where "it heaps praises about the work done by the "double engine" government, referring to the BJP-led government both in Uttar Pradesh as well as at the Centre." It alleged that these two ads were showcased either side by side or in close proximity with an intention to make the readers have a comparative reading experience of both the said advertisements.
"A bare reading of the two advertisements evinces that the BJP (running the government at the Centre and in the State of U.P.) is behind such political advertisements, so as to drum-roll their purported achievements. They have surreptitiously published their own political propaganda to further their political objectives under the garb of Government advertisements, by showing so-called achievements of the BJP-'ed governments and by criticising the West Bengal government led by AITC," Trinamool alleged. The party said that the Chapter 6 of the Manual of Model Code of Conduct (Publication of Advertisements at the Cost of Public Exchequer) clearly lays down that, "Government advertising shall maintain political neutrality and avoid glorification of political personalities and projecting a positive impression of the party in power or a negative impression of parties critical of the government".
"The same has been notified by the Election Commission of India on the basis of the Supreme Court's guidelines in Common Cause v. Union of India reported in (2015) 7 SCC 1, in light whereof, no government can publish and circulate biased advertisements in favour of a political party", it said.
TMC requested the EC to take necessary steps by passing appropriate directions for the withdrawal of the said publications, and take strict action against the BIP and its leaders "to enable a level playing field for all political parties in the upcoming elections."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.