BMC Elections: Aamir Khan’s ad promotion for BJP? Congress cries foul

As per state election commission (SEC), political advertisement’s were not allowed after 5.30pm on February 19 (couple of days prior to election day). However Congress party has raised objection to advertisements, featuring Aamir Khan, by an organization, because the organisation has close links with BJP.

The ad was issued by an NGO, Mumbai First, urging the city to vote and talked about potholes and garbage while saying – “vote kar ya crib kar (you can either vote or crib).”

“The advertisements in English and Marathi newspapers clearly highlight the issues of ‘transparency’ and ‘change’ promoted by the BJP. Although it has been issued by Mumbai First organisation, everybody knows it is closely association to Fadnavis. This is a blatant violation of code of conduct and we have a meeting with the election commissioner to lodge a complaint on Wednesday,” said Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

“An appeal to voters is fine. Raising issues faced by citizens for awareness in the election is the right of any organisation. If there is a direct campaign by a particular party then only it can be objectionable. We will take action if a ‘nexus’ is proved by the complainant,” said the State election commissioner.

“To vote is our greatest right. If I was home I’d definitely be voting. Exercise your right! #VoteForMumbai #BMCPolls2017,” tweeted Priyanka from the US.

Bollywood Celebs Urge Citizens to Vote to ‘Save Aarey’

With the BMC elections underway, Bollywood celebrities are appealing to the public to vote for a party that will protect the forests in Mumbai, especially Aarey. The proposed Metro III project will come up in Aarey, for which the government has proposed to build a car shed after cutting down hundreds of trees.

Green activists have also appealed to citizens to vote to save the forest in Aarey as it generates clean air for Mumbai and is also an important recreational space for Mumbaikars.

Aaery is also home to the Film City, a popular landmark in Mumbai.

Bollywood stars such as Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sonali Kulkarni, Dia Mirza, Jaaved Jaaferi tweeted with the tags #saveaarey and #savemumbai.

• Farhan Akhtar: “Urban development should include creating more green spaces, not getting rid of existing ones.”
• Riteish Deshmukh @Ritieshd: No trees = No Oxygen = No Life. Basic lesson I learnt in school. Why do we forget this when we grow up
• Jaaved Jaaferi @jaavedjaaferi: AAREY can soon become JAA REY.. Mumbaikars need to come together to save our lungs for the future generations. Hardly any green spaces left
• Dia Mirza @deespeak: With density of population, pollution levels, is it not imperative to protect our green spaces, if not add more?
• Vishal Dadlani @VishalDadlani Mumbai, for your own sake, vote in big numbers tomorrow. And don’t vote for anyone who hasn’t committed to #SaveAarey!

BMC says call Calendar Girls actor Avani Modi for election related queries

Actor Avani Modi, who appeared in the Bollywood film Calendar Girls (2015), received hundreds of text messages and phones calls on election-related queries, after the BMC mistakenly published her phone number in a poll advertisement, which asked citizens to reach out for queries.

The actor who works in Hindi and Gujarati films, said she couldn’t afford to keep her phone switched off due to professional reasons.

Avani demanded an apology from Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh, whose signature featured in the said ad. “I demand an apology from the officers responsible (for the advertisement).”

Although Mr. Deshmukh acknowledged that Avani’s number had been mistakenly published, he did not apologise and put the blame on his juniors.

Bollywood Celebs Campaign for BMC Elections

Congress had roped in Bollywood celebs for road shows and rallies. “The Sena and BJP are accusing each other of severe corruption. Voters should show the door to both parties for making their lives miserable,” said Nagma.