After back-to-back video adverts targeting the INDIA bloc by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress published an ad on Friday likening the BJP to a washing machine and mocking the party for accepting members from the Congress and other political parties.
In March, the BJP launched a scathing attack on the INDIA bloc and its leaders in its ads. The party questioned the bloc's indecisiveness over seat-sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, the Congress hit back at its opponent, calling it a "Jumla Party" and stating that it accepts only those politicians who allegedly have a corrupt background.
The ad depicted a politician dressed in a white kurta-pyjama outfit and a black jacket. Interestingly, the man is wearing a BJP scarf with its lotus symbol. He is partially emerging from a saffron-coloured washing machine, and there's a pool of puddle around him (seemingly indicating that his past has been washed clean, and he can start afresh). The ad line states: "'Mitron, Bhrashtachariyon Ke Khilaf Action Lunga' Ek-Ek Ko Jumla Party Mein Bhar Lunga". Interestingly, the ad was carried with a footer, "Issued in the public interest by the All India Congress Committee".
Congress' advert came after the BJP released two video ads sneering at the INDIA bloc. The first video advertisement showed prominent figures of the bloc gathered to meet a woman dressed in a traditional wedding outfit. The meeting seemingly discussed a marriage proposal. The advert criticised the indecisive nature of the bloc.
In another video ad, characters resembling the INDIA bloc are brutally mocked by a shopkeeper who maintains that merely changing the name of their alliance will not alter anything. Moreover, the shopkeeper implies that the same alliance, under the name of UPA, was rejected in 2019, and changing its name in 2024 will not garner public acceptance.
