Nadine Osman
In a strategic setback for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, a TV campaign advert was pulled from social media following backlash over claims it stoked anti-Muslim sentiment.
Launched on November 16 as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral push in Jharkhand, the advert depicted Muslims overtaking a Hindu family’s home, a clear nod to the party’s recurring narrative around “infiltration” from Bangladesh—a theme frequently amplified by Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The controversy surfaced as the Bharatiya Janata Party intensified its messaging ahead of the second phase of Jharkhand’s regional elections on November 20.
The ad depicts a Hindu man opening his door to a group of seemingly impoverished people, including men in skull caps and women in hijabs, entering his home. The Hindu woman, adorned with a mangalsutra [a traditional necklace worn by married Hindu women] and bindi, looks distressed, covering her nose as the man shouts, “They are ruining our home.”
One of the intruders, clad in a torn brown vest, says, “We have come because of the government you voted for,” referencing the state’s ruling Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha alliance. He adds, “So your home should be destroyed as well. Why only our slum?” The ad accuses the state government of “minority appeasement.”
The advertisement was pulled after the Congress party lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging that it was “misleading and divisive.”
In response, the Election Commission of India, which oversees electoral integrity, instructed the Bharatiya Janata Party to remove the ad from its Jharkhand social media channels.
The Election Commission of India also directed the state’s election officer to issue a formal notice to the BJP and submit an action-taken report. Jharkhand’s election officer, K Ravi Kumar, confirmed to the Hindustan Times that a police complaint had been filed over the ad.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh sharply criticized the advertisement as a clear breach of the Model Code of Conduct, labelling it “a most disgusting ad related to Jharkhand” in a post on X. He called on the Election Commission of India to act decisively, condemning the ad as not only an electoral violation but also a grave criminal offence.
Mehbooba Mufti, leader of a regional party in Jammu and Kashmir, criticised the campaign in the Jharkhand assembly elections as “deplorably communal” and a betrayal of India’s secular principles.
In a statement on X, Mufti remarked, “BJP’s advertisement campaign in Jharkhand assembly elections should make Kashmiri leadership turn in their graves who, despite Jammu and Kashmir being a Muslim-majority state, opted to join a secular democratic India.”
She called the campaign “pure poison” that undermines the nation’s foundational ideals and secular fabric.
The controversy unfolds amid a heated election campaign, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has consistently targeted the state’s ruling coalition. Earlier this month, Modi labelled the opposition alliance as an “infiltrators’ alliance” and a “mafia’s slave,” accusing it of supporting Bangladeshi infiltrators at the expense of the tribal population.
“Appeasement politics has peaked in Jharkhand, where the JMM coalition prioritises Bangladeshi infiltrators. If this continues, the tribal population will shrink, posing a threat to tribal society and the nation,” Modi claimed at a rally in Garhwa.
Home Minister Amit Shah echoed these accusations, vowing legal action against alleged land grabs by infiltrators. Speaking in Seraikela, Shah alleged, “Infiltrators are grabbing land by marrying our daughters. We will introduce a law to prevent land transfers to infiltrators through such means.
Additionally, we will establish a committee to identify and drive out infiltrators while reclaiming the land they have seized.”
