Kejriwal Gets Notice to Pay Money Spent on Deceptive Political Ads
Kejriwal Gets Notice to Pay Money Spent on Deceptive Political Ads
While Delhi continues to be one of the worst managed states of India, Kejriwal has been deceiving the illiterate voters with false advertisements to win elections deceptively.
By Rakesh Raman
Delhi chief minister (CM) and leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal has been issued a notice to repay the money that he spent on political advertisements under the garb of promoting government schemes.
The news agency ANI reported today (January 12) that the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) issued a recovery notice of Rs. 164 crores to Kejriwal and asked him to pay this amount within 10 days.
The reports also reveal that if the AAP leader failed to deposit the money, legal action will be taken against him. It will include the attachment of properties belonging to AAP.
The action has been taken nearly a month after Delhi Lt. Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena accused Kejriwal’s party of spending public money on political advertisements under the cover of government advertisements.
Instead of accepting its mistake and repaying the money, the AAP has blamed the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for similar ad spending. The AAP leader Manish Sisodia – who is facing serious corruption charges in a liquor scandal – said in a couple of tweets that the amount should also be recovered from the CMs of BJP.
Sisodia’s lame argument is like a thief telling the police that he or she can be punished only if another thief is also punished.
Although almost all political parties of India are full of corrupt politicians, it appears that AAP has crossed all limits of corruption. Kejriwal and AAP splurge massive public funds to promote Kejriwal and AAP in different states where elections take place.
[ Also Read: Research Project on Corruption in India Launched for 2023 ]
Since most Indian voters are uneducated, AAP exploits their illiteracy and deceives them with misleading advertisements that have Kejriwal’s own photos or appearances in TV shows.
After taking advertisement money from Kejriwal, the newspapers promote AAP and Kejriwal dishonestly through editorial stories and TV channels hold fake interviews with him to allow him to promote himself and his party. Instead of interviewing Kejriwal properly, the corrupt TV anchors keep sitting like statues in front of him.
As AAP pays huge money – which is a kind of bribe – to media outlets, they do not ask Kejriwal and AAP politicians relevant questions or subtly digress from the debates about AAP’s corruption and its misgovernance.
It is not only Kejriwal, but an AAP CM in Punjab Bhagwant Mann – who is an illiterate and incapable politician – is spending public money foolishly to promote himself.
Recently, the leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) urged the Punjab Governor to hold the AAP government in Punjab accountable for splurging public money on extravagant advertisements.
The Right to Information (RTI) replies by the Directorate of Information and Publicity reveal that the Delhi Government’s spending on advertisements increased by a whopping 4,273% over 10 financial years ending with 2021-2022, particularly under Kejriwal’s rule.
While Delhi continues to be one of the worst managed states of India, Kejriwal has been deceiving the illiterate voters with false advertisements to win elections deceptively.
The AAP is so corrupt that its ministers who are in jail or facing serious corruption investigations have not been removed from their positions by the party. For example, an AAP politician Satyendar Jain – who has been in jail for the past many months as an accused in a massive money laundering and corruption case – is still a minister in the Delhi Government.
Similarly, Delhi deputy CM Sisodia – who is facing multiple investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – has not been removed from his position in Delhi Government.
Worse, Kejriwal is spending huge public money to hire legal services to save his colleagues who are allegedly involved in corruption cases. Reports suggest that the AAP government in Delhi paid more than Rs. 25 crore in just about a year to lawyers who are appearing for AAP corruption cases in courts.
Since Delhi LG Saxena is a lethargic administrator, he only sends letters and notices to Kejriwal but fails to take any punitive action against the unruly AAP politicians who are misusing public funds for their own interests.
As a result of administrative inaction, the people of Delhi are suffering under lethal pollution, extreme corruption, collapsed health care system, and lack of basic infrastructure in the city-state of 30 million people.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the 2024 election.
