Kejriwal's appearance in an ad for Delhi's odd-even scheme draws flak from rivals as well as instant spoofs

You can take Arvind Kejriwal out of advertising, but you can't take advertising out of Arvind Kejriwal.

A new television ad promoting Delhi's odd-even numberplate scheme to curb vehicular pollution features the back of a man who looks like Kejriwal, complete with his trademark muffler. And, of course, the voice says is IS indeed Delhi's chief minister.

According to PTI, the advertisement has drawn criticism from his political opponents. Referring to Kejriwal's look as the "mufflerman" avatar, the report said that on Thursday the ad was "pilloried by the BJP and Congress for having 'blatantly circumvented' the Supreme Court guidelines and violated the 'spirit of law'."

In May 2015, the Supreme Court had ruled barring the publication of photographs of leaders in government advertisements, except those of the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India (with their approval). The order was issued to prevent political leaders building their personal images with taxpayers' money.

A report in The Hindu said, "The apex court said such photos divert attention from the policy of the government, unnecessarily associate an individual with a government project and pave the way for cultivating a 'personality cult'."

Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, said the CM’s act is “unethical” and amounts to encouraging people to violate the law. Adding that "technical arguments that the face is not visible won’t cut ice. As a citizen he has not set a good example."

Inevitably, the ad – which talks about how handing out roses to rule-breakers is producing results – has inspired spoofs.

In the video below, the Kejriwal figure recounts the violent experiences of a volunteer who first has abuses hurled at him, and then gets a sound thrashing for telling a man he has made an error. It ends with the suggestion of never giving advice to Delhi motorists while they are on the road.