File picture of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
By allocating nearly 500 crores to publicise itself, Arvind Kejriwal's government is not out of line with either its own principles or public opinion, said party leaders today. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government is obliged to advertise its policies, especially because the media, which is "responsible for showcasing the work so people benefit is busy on altercations" with his party.
As compared to about Rs. 24 crore last year, Rs. 500 crores have been set aside for promoting the government and its projects over the next year. "You are confusing what has been earmarked with what will be finally spent," said the government's media advisor Nagendar Sharma to NDTV. He also said that the publicity budget appears outsized because it clubs together the allocation for every government department.
But the varied justifications appear more than a little tone deaf to the backlash against a current blitz of radio and TV ads by the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, whose founding principles declared a commitment to eschewing the sort of wasteful expenditure that traditional political parties are often accused of.
The opposition BJP - which has three seats in the Delhi Assembly with the other 67 held by AAP - has complained about the advertising budget to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who acts as the Union government's representative in Delhi.
In recent weeks, AAP bought significant airtime on television channels for an ad that hard-sells the merits of Mr Kejriwal as Chief Minister. The opposition slammed the ad for its unabashed primacy of Mr Kejriwal over his party. Others took fierce objection to its sexist depiction of the protagonist housewife. And AAP spokespersons acknowledged that the ad was designed to skirt a Supreme Court ban on politicians appearing in government ads - the spot mentions Mr Kejriwal throughout, but neither he nor his photos are used.