Lok Sabha Election 2024: AAP teachers’ group asks DU to pull PM Modi’s photos from website

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) teachers’ body, AADTA, has written to the Delhi University vice chancellor Yogesh Singh, asking him to take down images of prime minister Narendra Modi and other ministers from the university and college websites in compliance with the model code of conduct (MCC).

The Election Commission of India (ECI) put in place the MCC from when the Lok Sabha election dates were announced on March 16.

The teachers’ body alleged that the University Grants Commission (UGC) forwarded the ECI notifications only “a month and a half later”. It also noted that the UGC has asked universities to remove the photos and references of the ministers, politicians and political parties from the website.

Despite this, Delhi University website still has images of prime minister Modi, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other ministers as part of the Viksit Bharat 2047 drive.

“The DU website is still replete with the photographs of the Prime Minister and Ministers, especially under Glimpses, DU Centenary, Viksit Bharat Ambassador Nari Shakti Conclave. The websites of some colleges are also displaying such photographs violating MCC. So, we request you to take such photographs and references out in compliance with MCC without any further delay,” AADTA wrote in the letter.

The images of PM Modi and other ministers are also present on other university websites. While universities such as the Assam Agricultural University and Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) have the images on the front page, others have it under the tab of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Cancel Viksit Bharat Run

AADTA also asked the vice chancellor to not conduct the Viksit Bharat Run, a short marathon run scheduled on May 8, as they argued that the drive is part of the political branding of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has mentioned the drive in their manifesto.

“The university should not hold the Viksit Bharat Run in the midst of ongoing general elections, especially when polling in Delhi is to take place in the next 15-20 days. Viksit Bharat is no more a generic term, rather this phrase has been made a part of political branding and massaging of BJP to communicate its goals and vision. This Hindi phrase has been used at least 13 times in the English version of BJP Manifesto 2024, thus indicating its political specificity,” AADTA wrote.

The Viksit Bharat 2047 was launched in December 2023 to “actively involve the youth of the country in formulation of national plans, priorities and goals of the country”. The UGC, in the same month, had asked universities to put up “selfie points” and posters as part of the drive. The UGC had even shared images for the posters all of which contained a standing image of prime minister Modi.