Congress rubbishes BJP’s ‘copy cat’ charge

‘The ad slogan was first used by Congress in 2010’

In a new twist to the “copy cat” ad campaign war between the Congress and the BJP, the former provided evidence that the contested slogan “ Main nahin, ham ” was first used by the party in Madhya Pradesh in 2010, a year before Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi used it at a chintan shivir in his home State in 2011.

On November 13, 2010, Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said on Saturday, Iqbal Khan, the then newly elected corporator from Khajrana ward in Indore, organised a mushaira in the city to celebrate his victory: at the mushaira, attended largely by Congress workers, the slogan “Main nahin, ham” was used in a poster.

Ms. Oza said that after the controversy broke in the media, and the BJP berated the Congress for stealing its slogan, a party worker from Indore, Pervez Iqbal, sent her a video clip of the celebration that clearly displays the slogan in the backdrop.

“The Congress always speak of “hum” because we believe in plurality,” Ms. Oza said, “because we believe in inclusive politics, unlike Mr. Modi who propagates the ‘I, me, myself” theory.”

The Congress, she said, would not have raised the issue but for the fact that the BJP, “that is habituated to telling lies,” accused the Congress of stealing its slogan, mocking it by saying, “ nakal me bhi akal honi chahiye (One should use one’s brains before copying something)”

“We are a 128-year-old party with a distinct ideology; we brought freedom to this country,” she said, adding: “We don’t need to steal slogans from any other party.”