‘Dada’ makes way for ‘Mahi’ in EC’s W Bengal campaign
The ''son'' of Bengal has finally made way to the ''son-in-law'' of the state, albeit in the arena of campaigning for people’s participation in the electoral process.
M S Dhoni, captain of World Cup winning Indian Cricket team whose in-laws are from the “City of Joy,” is set to replace former Indian cricket skipper Saurav Ganguly in the Election Commission's campaign that urges people to vote.
The video starring Ganguly which was cleared by the chief electoral officer of Bengal, was finally kept in abeyance by the Election Commission for beaming in Bengal, thanks to a complaint filed by the opposition Trinamool Congress.
The state election office has instead been asked by the commission to use an identical campaign by Dhoni in this poll-bound state; the medium is in Hindi though. EC Director-General (Information, Education and Communication) Akshay Raut, who confirmed the development, told newsmen here on Tuesday that the EC decision has preceded a letter from Ganguly requesting the commission to drop the campaign in view of the complaint that left him “in a state of discomfort.”
Under the circumstances, the chief electoral office here would be using the audio-visual promos by Dhoni and former president A P J Abdul Kalam. “The Election Commission office in Bihar has shared the videos featuring Dhoni and Kalam with us and the same were used during the recent elections in Bihar and Jharkhand last year as part the commission's campaign to motivate the electors to vote,” a senior official in the state election office said.
Ganguly’s promos ran into trouble after the Trinamool Congress lodged a protest with the EC, complaining that Saurav was “politically affiliated” to the ruling CPM and was a brand ambassador of the state-run West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation.
