BJP seeks ₹500 crore as defamation damages over AAP's Manoj Tiwari video

The Delhi BJP on Sunday (January 12) slapped the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with a defamation notice and sought ₹500 crore as compensation after the ruling party tweeted a video that featured Manoj Tiwari, its Delhi unit chief,  dancing to an AAP campaign song.

The opposition party has also complained to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the video which was an edited version of Tiwari’s Bhojpuri song attached to AAP’s ‘Lage Raho Kejriwal’ tune.

“Who gave AAP the right to use my videos for its theme song for the polls,” the Delhi BJP president said. Tiwari, who is better known as an actor-singer in Bhojpuri movies, also claimed that AAP chief and the national capital’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is ‘baffled’ by the chances of his party’s defeat at the upcoming Delhi elections, on February 8.

He further said that a complaint against the video has been made with the ECI and sought ₹500 crore as damages for defamation and violation for intellectual property rights.

“The use of Mr. Tiwari’s face in the election campaign by the AAP shows he is more popular than Mr. Kejriwal,” exclaimed Delhi BJP’s media relations head Neelkant Bakshi.