After EC’s ban on ‘Pappu’, Gujarat BJP using this word to target Rahul Gandhi

After the Election Commission barred the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll-bound Gujarat from targeting Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as ‘Pappu’, the ruling party has decided to do away with the word in its campaign.

Instead, the BJP has decided to target Rahul Gandhi as ‘Yuvraj’.

In a new video released by the BJP, the word Yuvraj has been used, in a clear reference to the Gandhi scion. After getting the nod from the EC to use the Yuvraj, a video with the word was posted by the Gujarat BJP on its Facebook page.

The video shows BJP and Congress supporters mocking each other with posters.

The Election Commission had barred the ruling BJP from using the word 'Pappu' in an electronic advertisement, calling it "derogatory".

"Pappu" is perceived as a social media slur coined to target Gandhi.

Confirming the development, sources in the BJP had said that the script of the advertisement did not link the word to any individual.

According to BJP sources, the media committee under the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) objected to the word mentioned in the script of the advertisement which was submitted by the party for approval last month.

"Before making any election-related advertisement, we have to submit a script to the committee to get a certificate. However, they raised objection to the word 'Pappu', saying it is derogatory. They asked us to remove or replace it," a senior BJP leader had said.

He had said that the party would replace the word and submit a new script for the EC's approval.

"Since there was no direct mention or linkage with any person while mentioning 'Pappu' in the entire script, we had appealed to the committee to reconsider their decision, but they rejected it. Now, we will change that word and submit a new script for approval," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)