Telangana polls: Congress advertisements targeting KCR cancelled by CEO

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) issued a circular dated November 11, cancelling the approval of political advertisements by the Congress party for alleged violation of the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee rules. The office of the CEO requested media houses not to telecast the advertisements, which took a direct dig at Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR). 

“I am to inform that the Political Advertisements approved by the State Level Certification Committee for the purpose of General Elections to the Legislative Assembly. 2023 are modified & misused. Further, it is observed that they are being telecasted in violation of the rules of MCMC. Hence, the approval for those Political Advertisements are cancelled,” the notification read. 

The cancelled advertisements feature a pink car (symbol of the BRS party) and a look-alike of KCR who seek votes, only to be rejected by the people. In one of the advertisements, a KCR look-alike wearing a pink shawl, flanked by supporters in similar attire, hands over a pink pamphlet asking a farmer to vote for them. A photographer, intending to capture the moment, asks the farmer to smile, saying that his picture will be published in the newspaper. But the farmer says, “Why should I laugh? Like me, photos of 8,000 farmers who had died of suicide were published in newspapers.” 

The farmers question the KCR look-alike about his failed promises on loan waiver and the implementation of the digital land records system Dharani, which allegedly led to the “seizure” of farmers’ lands. Typically, all these advertisements end with a shot of the pink car’s tyre getting deflated.

The decision to cancel the advertisements was made following a complaint from the BRS party. 

The Congress party, however, claimed that they did not violate any guidelines of the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) of the Election Commission. 

“We telecasted the advertisements only after seeking prior approval from the MCMC. The advertisements did not directly target the BRS party by mentioning their name or symbols. The advertisements have been stopped only because CEO Vikas Raj has been pressured to censor them,” alleged Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee vice president Chamala Kiran. He alleged that the BRS party had taken up all the advertising spaces under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation using their “influence” and denying them a fair chance to campaign.   

Kiran alleged that the decision to cancel the advertisements was made in connivance with the BJP. The Congress party shared the “cancelled” advertisements on their social media accounts. 

TNM reached out to Additional Chief Electoral Officer Lokesh for his comments on the issue, but he has not responded to our queries. The story will be updated if he replies.