The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday threatened to protest after a controversial banner was seen at Pune's Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE).
The banner, titled 'Democracy Wall', bore logos of GIPE, the Election Commission of India (ECI), and the Government of India. It was apparently intended for students to express their views ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, the banner was vandalised, with the word 'Democracy' struck through using spray paint. In the space provided for writing, 'NOTA (None of the above)' was prominently written in bold letters, alongside 'Inquilab Zindabad' in the Devanagari script.
Anil Thombre, State Minister, ABVP, deemed the banner "anti-national" and "anti-democracy". He criticised the administration for not taking action despite the poster being displayed for several days. Thombre stated, "The ABVP is going to hold a strong agitation if action is not taken against those behind this. At the same time, we will complain to the ECI and file a complaint with the police."
Author Shefali Vaidya took to X (formerly Twitter) and asked, "Is GIPE the new JNU?" "There is a banner in the corridor that features the official logos of Gokhale Institute as well as the Election Commission & Govt of India. The banner promotes #NOTA and suggests that democracy is dysfunctional in Bharat. This is a clear violation of the code of conduct and a blatant misuse of institute logos," she wrote.
"Request @PuneCityPolice and @ECISVEEP to conduct an inquiry take action against the culprits who are misusing logos of constitutional bodies to create misconceptions to further leftist propaganda! #SaveDemocracy," she added.
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