On Sunday, the Election Commission directed its Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand to ensure the take-down of a political advertisement posted by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Jharkhand unit targeting Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), that was reportedly deemed as "misleading and malicious".
The advertisement was posted on BJP Jharkhand's verified X handle, but was removed after the EC order. However, it can still be viewed and shared on BJP Jharkhand's WhatsApp channel, at the time of publishing this article.
What Does BJP Jharkhand's Ad Show?
The ad purportedly shows the household of a supporter of the ruling JMM party. The man in the house then hears the doorbell and opens the door, to see a large gathering of people, with many wearing skullcaps and burqas, thus insinuating that they are Muslims. The crowd is then shown barging into their house and settling in, while two men tell the homeowner that this is a result of them voting for the incumbent party.
A screenshot of the ad can be viewed below.
The ad is laden with communal dog-whistling targeting the Muslim community, and has been widely criticised for attempting to exploit religious animosity against Muslims in the context of the ongoing assembly elections in Jharkhand.
While the EC directed its state officials to get the video removed, BOOM found that the video was still available on BJP Jharkhand's verified WhatsApp channel, where it could be viewed, shared, and downloaded.
Despite BJP Jharkhand's post being removed, the video is being shared widely by BJP supporters on X (here, here and here).
Islamophobia A Recurring Campaigning Tool For BJP
The narrative being pushed with the ad aligns with the Islamophobic rhetoric used by the party consistently during the parliamentary and assembly elections held this year.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech in Rajasthan's Banswara, where he misquoted a comment by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and went on to state that Congress will distribute people's possession to 'infiltrators' and 'those with more children', while referring to Muslims.
Shortly after, BJP Karnataka's official X handle shared an inflammatory animated post showing Muslims replacing other OBC/SC/ST communities with the help of Congress.This eventually led to Karnataka Police sending a notice to the microblogging platform on May 5, directing it to remove the post for violating the Representation of People Act.
Furthermore, BJP's official Instagram had also posted another animated video, which portrayed Muslims as invaders, and put forth BJP's narrative that Congress intends to take the wealth of Hindus and distribute it to Muslims. The post was later deleted.