Row as BJP uses PM's Madison Square Garden speech in poll campaign

The Bharatiya Janata Party has drawn flak from the Opposition after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Madison Square Garden speech was aired repeatedly as an advertisement on Marathi news channels, ahead of the Maharashtra polls on Wednesday.

The Congress has approached the Election Commission after Sunday night’s prime telecast of the PM’s address in New York. It has accused the BJP of misusing a speech by Modi during an official tour of the United States, as the prime minister. 

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The Congress also called it a case of paid news.

However, the he BJP refutes allegations by the Congress saying that the Madison Square Garden event was a private function, and it is within its rights to use past speeches of its star campaigner.    

The speech was re-telecast on Sunday at several slots on Marathi channels. A few channels will show the speech on Monday, the last day of campaigning for the polls.

BJP newspaper ads also urge the public to watch the telecast of what they called "The Speech That's Creating Waves across the World".