Ad budget: Congress compares Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to 'North Korean dictator'

NEW DELHI: Slamming the AAP government for drawing up a whopping Rs 526 crore advertisement budget, Congress leader Ajay Kumar today compared Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to a "North Korean dictator who is into self- publicity".

The AAP government as come under attack over the size of its information and publicity budget for 2015-16 and Kumar, in a fresh salvo, said that the money was being set aside only "to continue the single-man, hero-worshipping cult culture of Arvind Kejriwal".

"This money could have been spent for treating patients or creating hospitals, beds, schools, roads. Why is it (being spent) when publicity of Delhi government was being managed in Rs 30-40 crores and was more than adequate," he said, adding that there is a Supreme Curt ruling on government advertising.

"Kejriwal is turning out to be like a North Korean dictator who is into self-publicity and self-promotion," Kumar told reporters here.

BJP, too, had yesterday attacked the AAP government for allocating such a "huge" sum for advertisement, charging that it was also a kind of corruption.

Weighing in against the Kejriwal government, former AAP leader Prashant Bhushan alleged that its new FM radio advertisement was in contempt of court and that the matter would soon be brought to the notice of the apex court.

Delhi government, meanwhile, has strongly defended the allocation, arguing that a separate head has been created for the first time for publicity and advertisement and that the figure may be less than the amount spent in previous years by various departments.

Supreme Court recently banned use of pictures of chief ministers and other political personalities on advertisements, billboards or hoardings of government schemes. The Prime Minister and the President are the only exceptions to the rule.