India's election body accused of bias for response to BJP video claims

Not enough action taken against divisive content produced by ruling party, critics say

- Debarshi Dasgupta

India's top election body has come under fire for failing to act against the country's ruling party and Prime Minister over polarising claims they have made while campaigning in the country's ongoing general election.

Action by the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been either muted or indirect against what critics say are misleading and divisive claims by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mr Narendra Modi targeted at the opposition Congress party and Indian Muslims.

Multiple complaints against the commission, which is tasked with conducting free and fair elections, have raised concerns about whether it is fulfilling its neutral role, or potentially undermining India's democracy.

On May 4, the Karnataka state unit of the BJP uploaded a controversial video on X that openly campaigned along religious lines and was accused of demonising Indian Muslims.

Titled "Beware... Beware... Beware..!" in the Kannada language, the animated video featured caricatures of opposition Congress politicians feeding "funds" to a bearded chick in a skullcap, which hatches from an egg labelled "Muslims". The chick grows up into a menacing bird and pushes out other smaller birds representing marginalised Hindu caste groups and tribals from a shared nest.

The video is part of a wider narrative promoted by the BJP to suggest that the Congress party, if elected, would snatch the wealth of Hindus, and distribute it to Muslims.

Despite strong criticism from opposition parties, the video remained online until the election commission finally asked social media platform X to take down the post on May 7.

By the time the 17-second video was deleted, it had been viewed more than nine million times.

Viewers included voters in parts of Karnataka who voted on May 7 in the third round of India's sevenphase parliamentary election, which ends on June 1.