The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is under assault from the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), over a poll add featuring a woman hugging a cow.
The JD-U is moving the Election Commission (EC) of India over the recent ad, which attacks Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on his silence over statements made by his allies on beef. The ad reads, “Stop vote bank politics and explain whether you endorse these statements.”
It then goes on to list three comments by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and others, with the word beef highlighted in each of the statements. JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi said the EC was lenient, which is why the Bihar state unit was attempting to communalise the elelctions in the state.
“The advertisement in the newspaper on the cow is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct because you can’t use religion for votes. The BJP is drunk in power, it is paying no heed to the constitutionally established institutions,” Tyagi said.
The development comes a day before the state votes for the fifth and final phaseof what has been a bitterly fought election, which often bordered on the ugly.