12 Feb 2014 03:02 PM, IST

After Azamgarh girls, now Metro Man Sreedharan featured in Modi ad

BJP ad featuring Sreedharan

 

By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow,

New Delhi, 12 Feb 2014: Around four years have passed since the Muslim girls of Azamgarh were presented as Gujarati Muslims in full-page newspaper ads of Narendra Modi, making both Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party red-faced, but the nature of the party, it seems, has not changed. Now former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan has been presented in party election hoardings in Delhi. Interestingly, this time too Modi features in the goof-up hoardings – now as prime ministerial candidate of the party.

 

Metro Man Sreedharan features among the upper echelon of the BJP including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. The hoardings carry large image of Modi and a Delhi BJP leader Mahesh Giri.

As soon as Sreedharan came up to deny that he was part of BJP or any political party BJP and its leader have admitted their mistake and offered apology.

 E Sreedharan (Photo – The Hindu)

 

 

“I have not given permission to BJP to display my photograph in its election posters. I have no intention to join any political party,” Sreedharan said. In response, Mahesh Giri has reportedly said it was an ‘honest mistake’ and they actually intended to use an image of BJP leader OP Kohli. “I am as surprised to see Mr Sreedharan’s picture on BJP hoardings. This could be an honest mistake. We wanted to use Mr OP Kohli’s picture, may be a mix up happened. It is not an attempt to appropriate Mr Sreedharan and I will see to it that the mistake is rectified,” Giri said.

 

Around four years from now – on 10 June 2010, a full-page ad had appeared in all leading newspapers (English, Hindi, Urdu) in Patna, the capital city of Bihar, just a day before the National Executive of BJP which Modi was coming to attend. The ad carrying larger than life image of Narendra Modi had claims of his BJP Government of Gujarat about prosperity and development of Muslims in the state. To substantiate the claims, the ad featured three pictures of Muslims – one of the pictures was of young Muslim girls learning computer at Shibli College in Azamgarh. While these young women were Azamgarh native and studying at the local college they were presented as Gujarati Muslim girls.

 

The goof-up was first noticed by this scribe while sitting at Patna office of TwoCircles.net (I was then working with the portal). I could notice the error as it was I who had clicked the photo of the girls during a visit to the Shibli College in Azamgarh in November 2008. I had gone to the Uttar Pradesh town to do some stories for TwoCircles.net.

 
 Gujarat govt. ad published in Patna dailies on 10 June 2010

 

Read more here – http://www.indiatomorrow.net/eng/after-azamgarh-girls-now-metro-man-sreedharan-features-modi-ad

 

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