EC bars BJP from using word 'Pappu’ in campaign ad

New Delhi/Ahmadabad: The Election Commission has asked the ruling BJP in Gujarat to drop the word "Pappu" from a campaign ad, to be run on TV, that apparently targets Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi."Pappu" is a name BJP supporters use to ridicule Rahul Gandhi on social media. The party changed the word after the election commission refused permission to the proposed ad.

Confirming this, a senior leader attached with the publicity cell of the BJP told UNI in Ahmadabad on Wednesday that the Media Certification & Monitoring Committee (MCMC) of the Election Commission has okayed its campaign ad today by changing the word “Pappu”. “Now this campaign ad will be used in the poll,” the BJP leader said. The BJP leader said all publicity materials need approval of the MCMC before release. 

The ad campaign was submitted to the MCMC on October 31. The panel had raised objections on three counts in the proposed campaign material including use of word “pappu” and another word for its not being clear in the meaning while another sentence was not compliant with the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The MCMC cleared two objections after the party appealed against the MCMC decision, the BJP leader said.

Sources say the BJP on October 31 sent a script for its election ad titled "Kirana (grocery)" to the MCMC of the State Election Commission for approval. One of the characters in the ad goes by the name of "Pappu", and when he visits the grocery store, a staff comments: "Sir pappu bhai aaye lagte hain (seems Pappu has come)".(UNI)