AAP's new TV ad 'crass' projection of Arvind Kejriwal: Prashant Bhushan

NEW DELHI: In a stinging attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, its ousted rebels-led Swaraj Abhiyaan today termed the Delhi government's latest TV commercials as an example of "political corruption" and "highly regressive".

Swaraj Abhiyaan leader Prashant Bhushan in a series of tweets said the ad amounted to a "crass" projection of Kejriwal apart from being "crude abuse" of funds, which was "against" a Supreme Court order.

"Apart from being a crass and crude abuse of funds the Kejriwal ad on TV is sexist and projects women as servants of their husbands. Shocking," Bhushan, a senior Supreme Court lawyer tweeted.

Decrying "personality cult" as an anti-thesis of democracy, the Supreme Court has barred publication of photos of leaders in government advertisements except those of the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

"The guideline of the order clearly states that any government advertisement should avoid the glorification of political personalities and and such glorification of an individual at the cost of public exchequer be stopped in a Delhi," the group said in a statement.

The group, of which Yogendra Yadav is also a member, also attacked the ad for being "misleading" as it came in the backdrop of "6 per cent rise in power tariffs."

"The heart of the problem however is that this TV commercial unashamedly abuses public funds to create a personality cult for Arvind Kejriwal. It sings paeans of the AAP leader and tries to project him as a messiah," added the statement.