New Delhi, March 31: Distraught at the vicious turn the election debate has taken, the Prime Minister has initiated the extraordinary step of getting the government to challenge a court order allowing political advertisements on television.

With calls for restraint on his own party in its attacks on Sonia Gandhi apparently not bearing fruit, Atal Bihari Vajpayee today got the information and broadcasting ministry to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the Andhra Pradesh High Court order.

Vajpayee’s disapproval of ads such as the one showing Gandhi and Nehru fighting against colonial rule to emphasise how “foreigners” were being brought back on Indian soil was so strong that a senior minister’s assertion earlier that the government would not contest the order fell by the wayside.

The petition filed by the I&B ministry said the high court’s stay of a poll panel order, which was only a reiteration of an existing law, banning political ads on TV would be “disastrous” at the time of the elections.

Vajpayee taking off a mask to reveal the face of Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, was the tit-for-tat ad the Congress had lined up.

The Prime Minister’s decision has made some senior BJP leaders in charge of the party’s election strategy and campaign unhappy as it denies them access to a powerful communication medium, but they can do nothing than to simply swallow it.

On earlier occasions, Vajpayee has had BJP leaders ticked off for making comments about Sonia that he thought were in bad taste. One such instance was when Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Vinay Katiyar was called by party president M. Venkaiah Naidu and told to behave.

The party and the outfits close to it, however, did not appear to have taken the hint seriously as an organisation called Kamakshi Education Society — quite obviously a front — put out the TV ad on “foreigner” Sonia.

Sanjhi Virasat Trust, an NGO, is the vehicle for the Congress’ Godse riposte. The battle has created a new genre of communication in the shape of surrogate political ads.

While making it clear that it would not mind dirtying its hands if mudslinging was the game the BJP wished to play, the Congress had also indicated that it was ready to come to a gentleman’s agreement on minimum norms of decency.

Since surrogate ads were initially hurting the Congress, and not the BJP, the I&B ministry had laid off, leaving the controversy to be settled by the Election Commission.

Today, however, it seemed disturbed by the possibility that only financially powerful candidates would be able to use the electronic media, creating a situation of discrimination. At least that is the reason it cited while seeking restoration of a clause in the Cable TV Network Act that bars political ads on television.

Its petition followed a meeting Vajpayee had summoned in his house where principal secretary Brajesh Mihsra, attorney-general Soli Sorabjee, I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Naidu were present.