New Delhi: Criticising the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government's ad campaign on the eve of Lok Sabha poll as "misuse of taxpayers' money to blow Prime Minister's trumpet", Congress today (Feb 18, 2004) launched "India cheated" campaign to apprise people of how they are being told "lies" repeatedly on different issues confronting them.

"A campaign is going on for the past few months to present untruth as truth. People's money is being misused to blow the trumpet of Vajpayee...India has been cheated," senior party leader Kapil Sibal told reporters and announced launching of "India cheated" campaign to counter that of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s which highlighted the "feel-good factor".

Assailing advertisements appearing in newspapers issued by various departments on different issues, he said Vajpayee Government has directed various Ministries to come out with such ads.

Citing several "examples of lies advertised by various departments", Kapil said an ad by the National Commission Of Population was giving credit to Vajpayee for the reduction of birth rate from 26 per 1000 to 25 in the last three years.

Similarly, the advertisement by Khadi and Village Industries, a sinking organisation, has been projected as India's "biggest and fastest-growing market of consumer product" merely because of its cumulative earnings.

Sibal gave similar example of advertisement by Telecom, Food and Textile Ministries and Tiger Project and their claim on Internet connections in five years, surplus food stocks and Prime Minister's commitments to the weaving community, saying "they are all being cheated".