NCP promo attracts riot act

After a spate of well-aimed, highly personalised attacks on TV, a three-member committee set up by Delhi8217;s Chief Electoral Officer Arun...

After a spate of well-aimed, highly personalised attacks on TV, a three-member committee set up by Delhi8217;s Chief Electoral Officer Arun Goyal authorised to certify political advertisements for broadcast is leaving nothing to chance. The committee today refused to certify a campaign submitted by the NCP as it found its contents too violent to telecast on TV.

The 45-second campaign in Marathi alludes to the recent riots in Gujarat with the following punchline: While Gujarat burned, communal harmony prevailed in neighbouring Maharashtra. So, for harmony to prevail, vote for the NCP-Congress alliance.

8216;8216;We have to ensure the films are not objectionable before allowing them to be screened in the next 48 hours,8217;8217; says Jt CEO S.S. Ghonkrokta.

He is being assisted by I038;B Ministry official Seema Jerebist and returning officer Chandrakar Bharti in certifying films as per the Supreme Court order which ordered the EC to spell out the modalities for the broadcast of political advertisements on television.

In all, on the first day today the committee saw four short films from the BJP, one from the Congress and a third from the NCP. The short films have been cleared. The NCP campaign, however, was found to be violent and the commission has disqualified the footage, which had the following punchline : Future is safe with the Congress/NCP alliance.

The NCP members, however, argued that their film had been cleared and the commission officials had found a song unsuitable for broadcast. 8216;8216;We have been asked to remove a song from the campaign,8217;8217; an NCP official said.

But Gonkorkta said the campaign had scenes of 8216;8216;riots8217;8217; which the three-member committee did not see fit for viewing. A committee member said the film was not in good taste. The NCP has the option to appeal to the Chief Electoral Officer and submit another film.

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The BJP campaign on other hand, plays the Vajpayee card in all its four films. They all have stock footages of Vajpayee with underlying theme of stability.

The Congress campaign does not show Sonia Gandhi but talks of a better future with a punchline that says good old days will come back if the Congress is voted to power.