'Upadravi Gotra' a Political Metaphor

After controversy over another cartoon for the Delhi elections, days after the BJP said it would focus on a "positive campaign only," the party yesterday accused the Aam Aadmi Party of giving "casteist meaning" to a metaphor.

AAP has accused the BJP of targeting its chief Arvind Kejriwal's caste or 'gotra' in a cartoon-based ad that shows him threatening to disrupt the Republic Day parade one year and asking for a VIP pass for the next.

"AAP is trying to misconstrue a metaphor used in the political context," said the BJP's Piyush Goyal, insisting that the word 'gotra' was not intended to mean caste but to describe "AAPs disruptive politics."

"The BJP targeted my children in their ad, but I kept quiet, didn't react... the BJP has been launching personal attacks on me through their ads, but today they referred to the entire Agarwal Samaj as 'Upadravi' [rioters]," Kejriwal alleged yesterday.

AAP leader Ashutosh demanded that the BJP withdraw the ad or they would be "forced to take action, will go to the EC."

In a counter attack, Goyal alleged that it is Kejriwal, who has in his campaigns described himself as a 'baniya' attempting to use his caste to appeal to the trader community, seen as a traditional BJP votebank.

The ruling BJP has already been struggling to address the community's misgivings over Foreign Direct Investment in retail. Kejriwal positioning yesterday's ad as an insult to the entire community will add to the BJP's jitters with the Delhi elections just five days away.