Election authorities in Delhi have denied certification to the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign song alleging it casts aspersions on the judiciary, “apparently incites violence”, and criticises the ruling party on the basis of “unverified facts”.

Certification is mandatory for political advertisements and without it, election authorities can even order the unauthorised propaganda to be taken off Internet platforms.

Delhi AAP minister Atishi told reporters: “And the most interesting thing is that throughout the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign song Jail ka Jawab Vote se Denge (Will answer jail with our votes), there is no mention of the BJP’s name anywhere, but the Election Commission of India says that ‘if you talk about dictatorship, this is a criticism of the ruling party.’ That means the Election Commission of India itself believes that the BJP is running a dictatorial rule in this country.”

The rap song, penned by the party’s chief whip in the Delhi Assembly, Dilip Pandey, was released last week. The video that is currently on the AAP’s YouTube channel has no mention of any other party or leader.

Three top AAP leaders, including the party’s national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, are behind bars awaiting trial in the liquor policy case.

The action against the AAP by the Media Pre-Certification Committee (MPCC) of Delhi’s chief election officer came after a complaint from the BJP.

The committee found the clip submitted to it violative of three rules under the Programme and Advertising Codes of the Cable TV Network Rules, 1994, as well as two guidelines of the Election Commission of India that prohibit incitement, aspersions on the President and judiciary, and unverified allegations.

The committee’s reply to the AAP’s application says: “The phrase ‘Jail ke jawaab me hum vote denge’ showing aggressive mob holding the photo of Sh Arvind Kejriwal showing him behind the bars casts aspersions on Judiciary…. The phrase ‘Tanashahi party ko hum chhot denge’ (We will hurt the dictatorship party) with the clip showing the protesters and police clash (running from 00:21 to 00:23) which apparently incites violence.”

It adds: “The phrase ‘Awazein khilaf thi jo sabko jail me daal dia, bas unko hi bahar rakha jisne inko maal diya. Itna lalach, itna nafrat, bhrastachari se mohabbat’ (Dissenting voices have been jailed, only those are free who paid them. So much greed, hatred, love for the corrupt) running from duration 00:38 to 00:45 Sec shows slanderous remarks and is a criticism of the ruling party on the basis of unverified facts and also casts aspersion on the judiciary.”

Recently, Maharashtra’s chief electoral officer denied certification to the campaign song of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on the ground that it contained a religious slogan, “Jai Bhawani”.

“Jai Bhawani” is part of the political lexicon of Maharashtra, with rallies in the state tending to begin with this salutation.