BJP’s ‘chunavi Hindu’ vs AAP’s ‘GOAT’ response – poster war heats up ahead of Delhi assembly election 2025

Delhi Election 2025: The election to the 70-member Delhi Assembly is expected to be held in mid-February. The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the schedule for the polls.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, is seeking to retain power in Delhi for a third time. The party won assembly elections in 2015 and 2020. AAP won 67 seats in 2015 and 63 in 2020 in the Assembly.

The AAP has released candidates for all 70 seats in Delhi. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which has not been in power in the national capital for 27 years, has not announced its candidates yet. So far, the Congress has released 47 candidates in two lists.

While AAP has launched an aggressive campaign in the run-up to polls with Kejriwal addressing press conferences and making announcements, BJP's strategy so far, it seems, has been to counter the ruling party.

The saffron party has been targeting AAP with posters mocking Kejriwal over his schemes and videos of the Civil Lines bungalow, where he stayed while he was CM, and referred to as ‘Sheesh Mahal’ by the BJP over the alleged corruption charges.

‘Chunavi Hindu’

On December 31, the BJP released a poster of Kejriwal, depicting him in a theatrical priest-like avatar reminiscent of Rajpal Yadav’s popular character ‘chhota pandit’ from film Bhool Bhulaiyaa. The poster calls Kejriwal ‘chunavi Hindu’ (Hindu for election purposes).

The accompanying text with the poster shared on social media read “visiting temples for me is a cunning guise, respect for priests is an election façade, I have always ridiculed Sanatana Dharma.”

The poster came a day after he had announced a monthly dole of ₹18,000 for pujaris and granthis, ahead of Delhi Election 2025. The Pujari Granthi Samman Rashi Scheme, as it is called, is the AAP’s fifth poll promise in poll season.

The national capital's ruling party had earlier announced four welfare schemes targeting women, Dalits and senior citizens. It also promised round-the-clock water supply.

The BJP’s poster barrage targeting Kejriwal began last month. In the poster released around Christmas, the BJP called the former Delhi chief minister a ‘chaliya naag’ (deceptive snake), accusing him of fooling women and the elderly in Delhi with his failed schemes.

On December 12, Kejriwal announced that the Delhi government cabinet approved the Mahila Samman Yojana, under which ₹1,000 will be given to eligible women of the national capital each month. Kejriwal said while the ₹1,000 aid will be rolled out from today, the amount will be increased to ₹2,100, if AAP returns to power in the upcoming elections.

A week later, Kejriwal announced Sanjeevani Yojana – a scheme offering free healthcare to senior citizens aged 60 and above.

AAP's ‘GOAT’ response

Apart from the posters, the BJP also released a video that purportedly provided a tour of the Delhi’s Civil Lines bungalow when Kejriwal lived when he was chief minister.

The video called ‘Sheesh Mahal’ with an accompanying rap song titled “Delhi ka millionaire” shows a well-equipped gym, a spa-cum-bathroom, a sensor-equipped shower, a massage table and a jacuzzi, among other things. The 4-minute video was released on December 10.

AAP had responded to the video by accusing the BJP of trying to divert attention ever since the former chief minister raised the law and order issue in Delhi.

In another poster, the BJP accused Kejriwal registering multiple fraudulent voter entries, ranging from ages 40 to 80, at a single address without the homeowner's knowledge. The BJP described this as "a new game by Kejriwal to rig votes."

The AAP countered with a video poster of Kejriwal labelled "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) of developmental politics– with uncanny reference to the 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film with the same name starring Vijay.