EC cracks the whip after BJP puts out cow ad

With barely 24 hours to go for the fifth and final phase of polling in Bihar, a controversy broke out on Wednesday with the Grand Alliance raising objection to a newspaper advertisement put out by the BJP, accusing the saffron party of stoking communal sentiments in the poll-bound region that houses a number of Muslim-dominant districts.

The advertisement provoked the Election Commission into restraining political parties from publishing any such material on the poll day unless the contents have first been perused by an empowered media committee.

The ad showed a woman hugging a cow, accompanied by a question to Nitish Kumar, “Chief Minister, while your allies were repeatedly insulting the holy cow, you kept quiet.” It then listed comments by top Mahagatbandhan leaders including Lalu Prasad, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah. The latter has, incidentally, been threatened by a BJP member that he would be “beheaded” for his statement that he would eat beef.

The BJP, which issued the ad, asked Nitish Kumar to “stop vote-bank politics and explain whether you endorse these statements”.

On a complaint filed by the Mahagatbandhan, the Election Commission then issued a directive to all political parties to cease publishing any advertisement in the local papers unless its contents are pre-certified by an empowered committee.

The EC had earlier issued a letter to all parties to refrain from publishing advertisements that have the potential to “aggravate the differences between different sections of the society and promoting ill-will, hatred or disharmony”.

On Twitter, RJD chief Lalu Prasad condemned the BJP’s tendency to “spread hatred and divide society”. Asserting that Bihar’s voters will not be swayed by the BJP’s “ugly propaganda”, Prasad said: “ Chunav mein mahaj chand siton ke liye nafrat aur asahishnuta ke mamle mein sangh aur BJP nirvastra ho chuki hai. Bhajpa mein jo jitna ocha, wo utna uncha (For winning a few paltry seats in elections, the BJP and the Sangh have exposed their hateful and intolerant self. What everyone can now see is that the BJP places high premium on low character.)” Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, was silent on the matter while party MP KC Tyagi told BusinessLine that he had taken up with the EC the issue of BJP President Amit Shah saying that there will be “crackers burst in Pakistan if the BJP loses the elections”. “ Kya Bihar ki janata Pakistani hai? Kya matlab hai in baton ka? (Are the people of Bihar living in Pakistan? What is the meaning of these incendiary statements?)” asked Tyagi.

The BJP defended its advertisement, calling it the party’s “prerogative”.

Polling will be held for the fifth and last phase on November 5 and the results will be declared on November 8. The fifth phase includes 57 constituencies spread across nine districts of Madhubani, Darbhanga, Supaul, Madhepura, Saharsa, Araria, Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj.

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