AAP modified campaign song gets poll body approval

The office of the Delhi chief election commissioner (CEO) has approved AAP's Lok Sabha elections campaign song after the party made modifications to it, officials said on Friday, 3 May.

AAP MLA Dilip Pandey, who wrote and sang the song, confirmed that the song has been approved. The party had said on 28 April that the Election Commission "banned" its campaign song Jail ka Jawab Vote se Denge (we will answer imprisonment with votes).

Delhi poll body officials, however, had said AAP was asked to modify the contents of the song since it reportedly violated the Election Commission of India's (ECI) guidelines and advertising codes.

An official said the party resubmitted its proposal to the CEO's office after making the modifications, following which the song was approved.

The original song was released last month. In a post in Hindi on X, Pandey said, "Truth can be troubled, not defeated! 'Jail ka Jawab Vote se' is not just a campaign song of AAP but it is the essence of the sentiment in the minds of the common people of the country. That is why, in the end, truth prevailed and the Election Commission approved the use of the campaign song in the elections. Satyamev Jayate!"

Sources in the Delhi CEO's office had said the AAP was asked to resubmit its proposal with certain modifications, in accordance with advertising codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules 1994, and ECI guidelines/norms circulated through a letter dated 24 August 2023, for certification.

The Delhi poll body had said certain phrases in the original song were "slanderous" and contained "criticism of the ruling party on the basis of unverified facts", while also casting aspersions on the judiciary and police.

Meanwhile, AAP's New Delhi candidate Somnath Bharti has resigned from several prominent positions, including membership of the Delhi Development Authority, vice-chairmanship of the Delhi Jal Board, and a non-official membership of the board of visitors to Delhi prisons, the party said in a statement.

"Though as per the laws, these posts don't fall in the category of offices of profit, but Somnath Bharti has opted to resign from these posts," the party said.

Bharti will file his nomination for the Lok Sabha election on Saturday.