Election Commission asks BJP to omit ‘Pappu’ word in Gujarat campaign Ad

Gandhinagar:

The Media Certification & Monitoring Committee (MCMC) set up by the Election Commission today allowed a TV advertisement of ruling BJP for Gujarat election after replacement of word ‘Pappu’ in it.

Notably, ‘Pappu’ word is used in social media frequently to take a jibe or ridicule Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

A senior leader of Gujarat BJP related to the ad wing of the party today said that the TV ad was first submitted before the committee on October 31.

‘The committee which clears all the election related ads had raised three objection including the one about the word Pappu though it was not directly linked to Rahul. It said that the word was derogatory. It also objected to use of another sentence citing the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and another word of which the meaning was not clear. We appealed against all the three objections before the competent authority ie Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat. He over-ruled the last two objections but withheld the one regarding use of the word Pappu. So we replaced it with another word and re-submitted the ad which was cleared by the committee today itself,’ he said.