The Hindu : Ad campaign: We are within the law, says Vajpayee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 10, 2004

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Ad campaign: We are within the law, says Vajpayee

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 9. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today defended his Government's `India Shining' advertisement campaign.

During an interaction with voters from his Lucknow constituency, Mr. Vajpayee was asked about the criticism of his Government's campaign. He asserted that his Government was fully committed to upholding the model code of conduct in letter and in spirit. However, the code would come into operation only after the Election Commission announced the election dates, he added.

The new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), T.S. Krishnamurthy, had said on Sunday while taking over his assignment that "as far as possible, the tax-payers' money should not be used for electoral advantage."

Mr. Vajpayee said the CEC's observation was within the law, but his Government too was within the law to explain to the people its achievements. The current advertisement campaign, according to the Prime Minister, is being financed from the budget allocations of various Ministries.

Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party too tried to downplay the CEC's remarks. The party spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said that while he would not like to comment on what Mr. Krishnamurthy had said, he would like to point out that the model code was not yet in force. The BJP had always been mindful of observing the code.

He defended the Government's advertisement campaign in the print and the electronic media, saying he did not agree that it is a waste of the tax-payers' money. It was the "duty of the Government" to "spread the information" as far and as wide as possible about its various projects so that those for whom they were designed were able to benefit.

Mr. Naqvi first said that it was the Government's responsibility to give information on the "development issue (vikas wale mudde)" which had been made into an election issue, but then he quickly corrected himself to say that it was the Government's duty to give information on its projects. Asked by reporters why the Government had not advertised in this manner through the four years it had been in power, Mr. Naqvi said the Government had done so.

Asked how much money the Government had spent for the current publicity blitz, Mr. Naqvi said he did not have the facts. Why had the BJP objected to the Congress Governments in the States advertising their achievements ahead of the Assembly polls, he was asked. To this he responded that the Congress governments had advertised the achievements of other State Governments run by their party.

He said the model code did not apply as of now because the poll dates had not yet been announced and the polls had not been notified.

Our Patna Special Correspondent reports:

The BJP president, M.Venkaiah Naidu, said that as per tradition such restraints came into force only after the announcement of the election dates by the Commission. It was not possible to stop programmes till the dates were announced.

It would be better if the Commission declared the schedule at the earliest.

The only other option was for all political parties to reach a consensus to exercise restraint, he said.

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