ECI scouts for new brand icon as Ghuggi joins AAP

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, February 15

With comedian Gurpreet Ghuggi joining the Aam Aadmi Party, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is forced to dump promotion material wherein its former brand icon had either acted or his photos had been used.

Besides popular Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann, Ghuggi was the brand icon of the ECI for Punjab. He was chosen for this role in 2012 after the death of satirist Jaspal Bhatti, who was also the ECI’s brand icon.

Sources said Ghuggi had acted in at least three short films which were produced by the ECI to make voters aware about their rights, various aspects related to the elections and electoral lists.

Besides, since Ghuggi was the main face of the ECI’s campaign in Punjab during 2014 Lik Sabha elections, tonnes of pamphlets, leaflets and posters were published by the commission. The artiste, however, didn’t charge any amount from the ECI, the sources said.

As advisories mentioned in these videos/printed matter are general in nature, the commission was hoping that it would use the same material in the 2017 elections.

A senior officer said: “The ECI’s brand ambassador should be an apolitical face. Since Ghuggi has joined a political party, we have decided not to use any material related to him. The commission has to reproduce this entire stuff afresh with another brand ambassador.”

When contacted, VK Singh, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, said: “We can’t use material having pictures of persons with a political role.”

The total cost of the material rendered useless couldn’t be ascertained. They said the CEO had already instructed district election officers to stop using any material related to Ghuggi.