Delhi elections: BJP seeks Rs 500 crore in damages after AAP video spoofs Manoj Tiwari
The BJP filed a defamation notice as well as a complaint to the Election Commission.
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday filed a complaint to the Election Commission and sent a defamation notice to the Aam Aadmi Party after it tweeted an edited video of BJP leader Manoj Tiwari dancing to the AAP campaign song.
Delhi is set to go to polls on February 8, and the results will be out on February 11.
Tiwari has sought Rs 500 crore in damages, PTI reported. In the video, Tiwari’s Bhojpuri albums appear to have been edited with the soundtrack of AAP’s Lage Raho Kejriwal.
“Who gave AAP the right to use my videos for its theme song for the polls?” Tiwari asked. Delhi BJP’s media relations chief Neelkant Bakshi claimed that the AAP was using Tiwari’s face in its election campaign because he was more popular than Kejriwal.
“The sole purpose of the video is to malign the image of our party and our star campaigner Shri Manoj Tiwari,” the BJP’s complaint said, adding that the video was not only a violation of the Model Code of Conduct but also an offence punishable under the I-T Act. The video was circulated “for the purpose of bringing ill-repute to the leader and the party”, the BJP alleged.
The BJP intensified its campaign on social media last week by sharing its own spoof video that mocked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.