Driving to work never bothered Akash Arora. But now, as he heads to his office in Chandigarh, he frowns. The Bollywood hits that used to keep him company have been replaced on FM stations with endless ads selling just one product: the Congress.
That's because Haryana's ready for elections. Last week, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, asked for the assembly to be dissolved 7 months ahead of schedule. Elections have not yet been announced. But political parties, led by Hooda's Congress have jumped into campaigning mode.
As he fiddles with his car radio, Akash sighs, "I really love FM, I never use to buy CDs. Now I am annoyed. We live in Chandigarh, we have no link with Haryana. I am disturbed because of No 1 Haryana ads."
Those No 1 ads tell listeners that Hooda is the man to vote for. The Congress is reportedly spending Rs 8 crore on radio, newspaper and TV ads. They boast about Hooda's many voter-friendly schemes--an increase in pensions, loans to farmers, construction of new bridges.
The Opposition is desperate to hit the mute button. Om Prakash Chautala, who heads the INLD and is Hooda's political rival, complains, "The present government is wasting public money."
But the Congress, officially still in power, says it's entitled to sing its own tune. "There is nothing wrong in telling people what we have done for them. It is wrong only if the government indulges in false propaganda," brags Mange Ram Gupta, currently Education and Transport Minister.
We watch Akash's face fall as he discovers that taxpayers' money is responsible for the ads that so annoy him. He thumps his steering wheel and then switches off the radio. In silence, he finishes his commute.
