‘Ad’ Nauseam

Azad said he had been contacted by newspapers seeking payment for the ad and clarified that the BSP had nothing to with its release. The ad, incidentally, has been issued by an NGO—Akhil Bharatiya Anusuchit Jati Parishad—that is run by a person appointed by Digvijay to the state Scheduled Caste commission.

The ‘‘forged’’ Mayawati letter tells ‘‘samasthya sathigan (all colleagues)’’ that it would not be wrong to vote for the Congress wherever they feel the BSP candidate does not stand a chance of winning.

In his press release, he claimed that ‘‘BSP voters are being misled by forged pads, monograms and the election symbol of the hathi plus forged signatures of Mayawati…Seeing the growth of the BSP, both the Congress and BJP have lost their balance. I want to alert both the parties through the media that they desist from such dirty tactics.’’

The advertisement, which Azad disowned and which has been printed in every major local newspaper, states: ‘‘Mayawati ka badla lena hai, Bhajpa ko satta se door rakhna hai (Avenge what happened to Mayawati, keep the BJP out of power).’’ It adds: ‘‘Bhajpa harao—Bahujan bachao’’.

When Prabha Bise, who runs the Akhil Bharatiya Anusuchit Jati Parishad, was contacted, her husband said she was away but confirmed that the ad was issued on behalf of her organisation.