An FIR was lodged against the Jharkhand unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Congress lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday over an advertisement targeting JMM-Congress-RJD alliance leaders.
The Congress claimed that the ad made baseless allegations and statements while portraying them in a negative light with the sole intent of propagating false narratives, PTI reported.
The advertisement, which appears to take a dig at Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav by featuring three characters resembling them, shows them being “anti-tribal” and how they now want to seek their votes.
In a memorandum submitted to the Election Commission (EC), Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh urged the poll body to issue directives for the immediate takedown of all videos of the advertisement and consequently take urgent action against the BJP and its official Facebook handle for Jharkhand.
Jairam Ramesh added that “false allegations and statements are being ascribed to leaders of the JMM, Congress and the RJD” through the advertisement published by the Jharkhand BJP page on November 9.
“We are writing to you with respect to an advertisement published by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) official Facebook handle for the state of Jharkhand ie, BJP4Jharkhand. On a prima facie viewing, the advertisement published by the BJP4Jharkhand page is in blatant violation of the Model Code of Conduct and other electoral laws,” Ramesh said in his memorandum to the EC that he shared on X.
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“In the said advertisement, the BJP had first tried to use actors who resemble the leaders of JMM, INC and RJD. Consequently, the advertisement has tried to raise several blatantly false allegations against the leaders of the JMM, INC and the RJD. One of the allegations is that these leaders are anti-Adivasi (against tribals) who are banding together under the garb of being pro-Adivasis to ultimately serve their own personal agendas,” Ramesh said.
Jharkhand Assembly election will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20. Campaigning for elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly is currently underway. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress, both part of INDIA alliance, are contesting the state elections together.
(With inputs from PTI)