Green Party’s Urdu campaign video depicting Modi in UK byelection under fire

London, Feb 24 (PTI) An Urdu language campaign video by the Green Party for a byelection taking place in north-west England this week has come under fire for its depiction of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with his Indian and Israeli counterparts.

All parties are hot on the campaign trail for the Gorton and Denton seat in Manchester, with the far-right Reform UK’s anti-immigration message sought to be countered by Labour, Conservatives and Greens.

However, the messaging by the latter's candidate Hannah Spencer as the best choice for the community’s migrant population has been questioned by Labour.

“Racism has no place in our politics, yet once again, we are seeing cynical tactics that risk inflaming community tensions for electoral gain,” Navendu Mishra, Labour MP for nearby Stockport, said in a social media post.

The British Indian member of Parliament said the video, depicting Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu with Starmer, “raises serious questions”.

“By featuring images of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister [David Lammy] with foreign leaders in material clearly aimed at Muslim voters, the Green Party risks sending a message that reduces communities to simplistic identity politics,” said Mishra.

“We must reject any approach that plays on religious or ethnic sensitivities and divide-and-rule tactics. We should be focused on local issues, shared values and bringing people together, not amplifying figures from overseas in ways that may deepen divisions here in Greater Manchester,” he added.

The messaging in the video, which also includes imagery from the conflict in Gaza, is seen as being aimed at the considerable British Pakistani electorate in the constituency.

“Reform wants to break up our communities. They want to deport families who have lived here for years, and they want to tax people born abroad even more. They give air to Islamophobia, and they put our safety and dignity at risk. But there is another way (with the Green Party),” the video voiceover in Urdu states.

While the Green Party has been approached for a statement, the governing Labour Party pegged Thursday’s byelection as a “battle of values” and warned against a split of the anti-Reform vote.

“In this byelection a vote for the Green Party is, in effect, a vote for Reform,” Starmer said on the campaign trail for Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia.

Green Party leader Zac Polanski, who has been growing in popularity, has dismissed such claims as “absurd.” Labour had won the Gorton and Denton constituency with a majority of 13,413 in the July 2024 general election, but is now facing a tough fight to ward off the Nigel Farage led Reform UK and the Greens following the exit of incumbent Andrew Gwynne. PTI AK NPK NPK