Kissa Kursi Ka : Note For Vote
On Christmas, Aam Aadmi Party shared an AI-generated video on social media showing its convenor Arvind Kejriwal dressed as Santa Claus ‘distributing’ welfare gifts. The caption read: “Delhi’s own Santa delivering gifts year-round”. The video showed a a government school in delhi and the AAP chief gifting a box to a woman with Rs 2,100 written on it. But Kejriwal had to face a bizarre twist. Delhi government’s Department of Women and Child Development and Health Department issued public notices in nespapers cautioning people against the “registration drives” current underway by AAP for two schemes – Mahila Samman promising Rs 2,100 monthly allowances for women, and Sanjeevani scheme promising free health care for senior citizens aged above 60 years. The government notices said, these schemes were “non-existent” and urged residents not to share personal data. The notices clearly said no such schemes have been notified by Delhi government.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had announced both these schemes and promised to implement them if the party returns to power in 2025 Assembly polls. BJP leaders described this as “economic offence and fraud” and demanded a probe into how personal and financial data from voters are being collected. Arvind Kejriwal, clearly on the backfoot, said there was nothing wrong if people come forward to register their names if they trust AAP to deliver on its poll promises.
Chief Minister Atishi herself have been moving around with Kejriwal in Delhi and getting the forms filled up, and on the other hand, her own government was issuing public notices cautioning people that the schemes were non-existent. Atishi alleged that this was part of “BJP’s conspiracy” and threatened to take action against Delhi government officers who issued these ads.
Congress, the third force in Delhi, waded into this debate and alleged that there was no difference between BJP and Kejriwal, as both the parties “were cheating the people of Delhi”. Congress issued a White Paper on AAP government’s promises and failures. Congress leader Ajay Maken described Arvind Kejriwal as “a big liar who has no ideology and who can do anything to grab power”.
The public notices issued by Delhi government are quite interesting. Delhi government’s bureaucracy works under the Lt. Governor. Since Kejriwal announced both schemes bypassing all, the L-G threw a googly, by inserting ads in newspapers describing the schemes as “non-existent”. On the other hand, Kejriwal is confident that both these schemes would ensuring a repeat win for his party, just like the Laadli Behan Yojana that swept the BJP-ShivSena-NCP government back in power in Maharashtra, and Modi’s Ayushman Yojana that gave benefits to BJP.
Kejriwal had played this card earlier in Gujarat assembly elections. He had promised Rs 2,000 monthly allowance to women, and organized camps for women voters to fill up forms. In the elections, AAP got 14 per cent votes. Similarly, in Delhi, Kejriwal had started “registration” of women and senior voters two days ago. AAP claimed that by Wednesday evening, 22 lakh women registered their names under Mahila Samman Yojana, while two lakh senior citizens registered their names under Sanjeevani Yojana.
Naturally, this caused tension in Delhi BJP camp, and it was evident on Wednesday, when Delhi BJP leader Parvesh Verma started distributing Rs 1,100 cash to each woman voter in his residence. Verma is going to contest against Kejriwal in New Delhi constituency. So, he adopted the ‘Kejriwal formula’ to defeat the AAP chief. At the government bungalow in 20, Windsor Place, there was a big crowd of women who were being given Rs 1,100 in envelopes. They had gone to Verma’s home carrying their voter identity cards.
India TV reporter met several women who came out carrying folders in which Rs 1100 cash was inserted in envelopes. The folders carried photographs of BJP leaders. Chief Minister Atishi demanded that ED or CBI should raid Verma’s residence and arrest him, as she suspected there were crores of rupees worth cash lying in his home. Parvesh Verma clarified that his father former CM Sahib Singh Verma had set up an NGO which helped poor and destitute women and this cash was being distributed for this purpose. He said, this was not black money and every rupee was accountable.
Kejriwal, by evening, issued an appeal to voters not to hesitate in taking cash, but refrain from giving votes to BJP. The AAP chief, who was caught in his own net on the Mahila Samman and Sanjeevani schemes issue because of Delhi govt ads, now got an escape route after it was found that Parvesh Verma was distributing cash to women voters. Both tried to offer inducements to women voters, either in cash or getting names registered. Parvesh Verma’s style was more blatant. Kejriwal is an old player in this game. He did not distribute money, but promised to give if elected. Verma straightaway gave envelopes filled with cash. Most of the politicians secretly distribute cash and other goodies during elections, but in Hindi, there is a proverb: “Chor Wohi Hota Hai, Jo Pakda Jaye” (The thief is the one who gets caught). Parvesh Verma was caught and his defence seems to be weak.
Amit Shah on Ambedkar : Congress, Edited Video and Fake Narrative
There was high-octane politics over a fake narrative created on the basis of a 11-second video from Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech in Rajya Sabha. Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party alleged that Shah had “insulted” Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar during his speech. Responding, Amit Shah challenged Congress to prove its allegation and urged media to show the complete video of his speech. At a press conference, Amit Shah recounted the times when Congress “insulted” Ambedkar during its rule. He named Congress leaders who hurled insults at Ambedkar in the past.
On the other hand, Congress workers staged protests in different cities and party president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Shah be dismissed from Cabinet. Kharge went to the extent of warning that “the country will be on fire” if Shah did not resign. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi joined the fray and lashed out at Amit Shah.
The Home Minister said, a 11-second portion from his 85-minute speech was edited and made viral on social media to mislead the people. He reminded how Narendra Modi accorded full honours to Ambedkar, while the Congress deliberately insulted the maker of the Constitution.
Both Houses of Parliament could not transact any business due to uproar. BJP chief J P Nadda said, Congress leaders became worried when Amit Shah exposed the “sins” of their party in Rajya Sabha, and they were trying to “hide their sins by taking recourse to lies”. Outside Parliament, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, along with Kharge and other Congress MPs staged protests, while party workers staged protests in several cities.
Since the matter was sensitive and related to Dr Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted in a series of six tweets on X. Modi wrote, “if the Congress and its rotten eco-system think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken. The people India have seen time and again how one party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obligerate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities.”
Modi further tweeted: “The list of the Congress’ sins towards Dr. Ambedkar includes: Getting him defeated in elections not once, but twice, Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue, Denying him a Bharat Ratna, Denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall…. In Parliament, HM @AmitShah Ji exposed the Congress’ dark history of insulting Dr. Ambedkar and ignoring the SC/ST communities. They are clearly stung and stunned by the facts he presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics! Sadly, for them, people know the truth.”
In Delhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal with his supporters, carrying banners, posters against Amit Shah, went to BJP headquarters to stage protest, while in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aditya Thackeray went to Deeksha Bhoomi to pay respects to Dr. Ambedkar.
From Kolkata, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee tweeted on X: “The mask has fallen!…..Amit Shah chose to tarnish this occasion with derogatory remarks against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, that too, in the temple of democracy. This is a display of BJP’s casteist and anti-Dalit mindset. If this is how they behave after being reduced to 240 seats, imagine the damage they would have inflicted if their dream of 400 seats had been realised. They would have rewritten history to entirely erase Dr. Ambedkar’s contributions. Amit Shah’s remarks are an insult to the millions who look up to Babasaheb for guidance and inspiration…”
Watching Amit Shah’s Rajya Sabha speech in full, it is amply clear how a fake narrative can be set by posting an edited video. Congress party tried to do this by posting this 11-second video to project that Amit Shah insulted Ambedkar. If one watches his full speech, it will be clear how he repeatedly tried to prove how Congress insulted Amedkar over the years. It is not a secret that Ambedkar had policy differences with Pandit Nehru and it has been recorded in history.
The question today is not about facts, but about perception that can be created through fake narrative. Amit Shah had to call a press conference to explain his views. Amit Shah understands the power of social media, where a half-truth can be made viral within minutes. Social media has the power to project a rope as a snake, and vice-versa. BJP could have ignored this, but in Hindi, there is a proverb “Doodh Ka Jalaa Chaach Ko Phoonk Phoonk Kar Peeta Hai” (Once bitten, twice shy).
In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, Congress created a big narrative about reservations, Constitution and Dr. Ambedkar. Congress leaders tried to strike fear in the minds of voters by saying that BJP wanted to win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats, because it wants to end caste reservation policy propounded by Ambedkar in the Constitution. BJP delayed in countering it and had to face electoral losses. This time, BJP is alert and it did not waste time. Amit Shah played from the front foot and exposed the fake narrative. To counter the 11-second video, he placed nearly a hundred facts about “sins” of Congress. Now, it may be difficult for Congress to reply to these allegations.
Had Amit Shah remained silent, it could have caused damage. The reverse will now happen, because BJP is on the offensive. BJP is going to spread facts about differences between Ambedkar and Nehru and “insults” meted out to Ambedkar by the Congress party.
Amit Shah is a clever player in politics. The issue about Constitution which could have died down after the Parliament session, will now take a long, winding course in Indian politics. This incident also proves, while social media can create a fake narrative based on short videos, the mainstream media can be trusted to project the truth by giving the full picture.