New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday announced that the party will file a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP for sharing “derogatory” posts on its social media handles against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The development comes a day after the EC issued a show-cause notice to Kejriwal for alleged disparaging remarks against the prime minister on AAP’s social media handle and asked him to respond to the charge of poll code violation by November 16.
Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said the party’s legal team will respond to the notice.
“The BJP is running a campaign on social media to slander CM Arvind Kejriwal’s image. On November 5, the BJP posted derogatory content on its X, Facebook, and Instagram handles to tarnish CM Kejriwal’s image. The AAP also posted content in response to the content shared by the BJP on social media. However, the AAP received a notice from the Election Commission regarding this, but the BJP did not. We hope that after registering a complaint against the BJP, the Election Commission will take strict action,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said it is wrong to hold his party responsible for Kejriwal’s image loss.
“AAP leaders like Raghav Chadha should note that failing to fulfil pre-poll commitments, and corruption and nepotism in Delhi government are responsible for Arvind Kejriwal’s image loss,” Kapoor said in a statement.
Chadha said AAP’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta has sought time from the EC so that a delegation from the party can submit a detailed complaint in the matter.
“In recent days, the BJP has been consistently trying to malign CM Kejriwal’s image through their social media handles. Besides being the AAP national convener, he is also the star campaigner for the party in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram where elections are ongoing. The AAP will file a complaint with the Election Commission against this conspiracy,” Chadha said.
On November 5, the Delhi BJP posted a “derogatory” and misleading post on its social media handles, he alleged.
“This post was also shared extensively on BJP’s official social media handles in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and MP. All three states are undergoing state assembly elections, and the model code of conduct is in effect. They (BJP) also released this content on numerous WhatsApp numbers,” he claimed.
Chadha said that these are also violation of Section 4 of the Representation of the People Act and Clause 4.2 of the poll code.
“This isn’t the first time the BJP has stooped to such low levels in politics to tarnish the image of AAP leaders. The BJP always resorts to character assassination. They haven’t spared even the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru,” he said.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Marziya Sharif | 
