Twitter user exposes the ‘questionable man’ who runs AAP’s PR machinery

• Recently, Arvind Kejriwal’s congratulatory message became controversial when a Masjid looking structure was observed in the background
• As it turns out, the poster was designed by an agency run by an ex-Jnuite IAS officer who considers India a Brahmin state
• While the bureaucrat needs to be scrutinised, it should not be forgotten that an organisation is the extension of the individual running it

Time and again Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has been in controversy for all sorts of wrong reasons. Every time its leaders get scrutinised and later the issue gets dissipated in thin air. However, their hired guns go unnoticed. Ultimately, it’s the Public Relations (PR) machinery that is responsible for things going haywire.

Kejriwal’s controversial Ram Navmi message

Recently, Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Hindus on the occasion of Ram Navmi. In the 1 page long poster printed in newspapers, his PR machinery had sent a photo in which two Diyas are lit beside a few religious structures. A closer look at the structure is all you need to know about the brains working behind it.

The structures which were supposed to be Mandirs resemble more like Masjids. In fact, one of the Twitter users had drawn a parallel between the structures shown in the poster and Babri Masjid. Another Twitter user Vijay Patel exposed the man who is effectively in charge of distributing these pictures.

The poster was designed by an IAS officer

In 2015, the Arvind Kejriwal government established a government PR agency called Shabdarth. The responsibility of running this organisation fell on the shoulders of an IAS called Shamim Akhtar. His cadre is DANIC, which means he mainly handles the affairs of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar.

Vijay did a background check on his life. Shamim Akhtar has a chequered history. He is an alumnus of JNU, which is considered by many to be a hotbed for anti-national intellectuals. As expected, Shamim Akhtar believes in the leftists’ nonsensical claims that India is a Brahmin state. The brahmin state is a trope used by left-wing intelligentsia to portray that a minuscule portion of Indians subdue others in a modern democracy.

Read more: JNU students want the reconstruction of Babri Masjid. Cute

Things wrong with Shamim Akhtar

Shamim Akhtar also thinks that Muslims, who are provided with specially designed welfare schemes for them, are considered untouchables. This kind of view won’t surprise you if you are told that Shamim Akhtar has been CEO of Delhi Waqf Board.

Moreover, media reports indicate that Shamim holds the arrogance of an average Sarkari Babu. Even before he was poached by Kejriwal, one of the officers had lodged a complaint against him. Kuldeep Singh Gangar, the Executive Director with Delhi Tourism Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC) had accused Shamim Akhtar of abusing and misbehaving with him.

Shamim reports to Manish Sisodia

Despite having so many red flags, the Kejriwal administration virtually gave him a free hand in the management of the agency. As it turns out, he hired everyone else working in the organisation. It won’t be tough to guess the ideological and religious worldview of people working under him.

Vijay also exposed whom Shamim Akhtar ultimately reports to. The Deputy Chief Minister puts his final stamp on the posters and messages set up for sending it to the media. That would mean, Manish Sisodia had no problem in sending Ram Navmi’s wishes to Hindus with that controversial poster.

Read more: Arvind Kejriwal ‘s Dadri Message has taken Indian Politics to a new unsurpassable low

Kejriwal holds the ultimate responsibility

It is widely believed that politicians do not look after the messages sent in their name by their employees which they trust. But, it is also true that these employees are recruited by those politicians themselves. Even if we assume that Kejriwal did not intend to unnecessarily ‘secularise’ Ram Navmi’s wishes, his past attempts of catering to the secular lobby do not let anyone believe it.

An organisation is just an extension of the person who’s running or started it. If AAP has recruited Shamim despite his past records, it means that AAP and Shamim are in collusion. It has been a rut going around for way too long. It is time for the public to know not the full truth, not just about the politician but also about the kind of person he/she works with.