Indian EC puts ad row ball in govt court

28 March 2004, 18:00 PM

The Statesman/ ANN, New Delhi

Indian workers clean Congress Party symbols at party headquarters in Amethi, some 200km south-east of Lucknow yesterday. Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi will contest the seat of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh starting a new generation of political involvement for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. He is scheduled to start his election campaign in the Northern Indian town today. PHOTO: AFP

Yet another surrogate election advertisement this time making an oblique reference to the Prime Minister hit the air waves Saturday even as the Election Commission asked the government to arbitrate on the propriety of "personal attacks".

The new ad being aired on a private TV channel begins with black-and-white clips of the Quit India Movement and ends with a "letter" that has a portion circled. This is purported to have been written by Atal Behari Vajpayee seeking his release from detention.

The ad, which ends with the message "Mukhibiron (informer) ke haton mein satta! Kabhi nahin," has been sponsored by Sajji Virasat Trust, the organisation that had earlier released an ad taking digs at the "India Shining" campaign.