Delhi Polls: Arvind Kejriwal turns the tables on BJP over ‘Upadravi Gotra’ advertisement

NEW DELHI: With just days to go for Delhi polls, BJP has walked into a caste controversy with a party ad in Hindi that used the term ‘ upadravi gotra.’ AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was quick to turn the tables on BJP claiming that the ad targeted not just him but also the trader community he hailed from. The ad shows Kejriwal as threatening to disrupt the Republic Day parade one year and asking for a VIP pass the next year. The ad said Republic Day is a national occasion but Kejriwal’s ‘upadravi gotra’ was set to disrupt it.

The row began with Kejriwal’s strongly worded morning tweets against the ads that were on published in newspapers on Monday.

“BJP has been launching personal attacks on me..., but today they referred to the entire Agarwal Samaj as ‘Upadravi’,” he said.

The Agarwals are prominent members of Delhi’s politically active trader community, considered a BJP votebank. Kejriwal has in his campaigns described himself as a “baniya” to appeal to the community even demanding to put the online commerce business under scanner.

BJP was quick to defend the ad. “AAP is trying to misconstrue a metaphor used in the political context,” said Union minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal, insisting “gotra” was not intended to mean caste but to describe “AAPs disruptive politics”.

While AAP approached EC demanding BJP apologise for the ad, BJP, in turn, moved EC against AAP for twisting the contents of the ad.

The ad for BJP’s Delhi assembly polls are created by Soho Square Delhi and is led by Kunal Jeswani, CEO, Ogilvy & Mather. But when contacted about the series of cartoon ads launched by the agency and particularly the one that names Kejriwal as “upadravi gotra (anarchist gotra)”, Jeswani declined to comment. He declined to disclose the names of the creative team working on the campaign.

Prathap Suthan, managing partner and chief creative officer at Bang In The Middle, felt quality of India’s political advertising has slipped many notches. “It doesn’t have grace any more,” he told ET.

“The new gotra battle is unnecessary, and unbecoming of statesmanship and sportsman spirit.”