Transforming UP from West Bengal? UP govt ad boasts of development with picture of Kolkata bridge

A print ad by the Yogi government showed a flyover from Kolkata, and was slammed for plaigarism

In preparation of next year's Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the face of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has started cropping up in advertisements as the government boasts of development under the BJP government. But its latest advertisement in Sunday's Indian Express may have gone wrong.

The front page of The Sunday Express on September 12 shows a full-scape Adityanath waving, along with a flyover of a bridge and an industry site, with workers in orange construction hats pointing at the installation.

The picture lost its sheen when Twitter users pointed out that the flyover is not in Adityanath's state at all, but is in TMC-ruled Kolkata, West Bengal. The picture of the industry site was also found to be from a company called HSE Vision.

A reverse image search on Google verifies this.

Accusing the Yogi government of plaigarism, many posted pictures of the front page on social media.

"Thuggy Yogi in his UP ads with Kolkata’s MAA flyover, our JW Marriott & our iconic yellow taxis!" TMC leader Mahua Moitra tweeted.

Other TMC leaders also joined in to critique the "double engine" BJP government, slamming the chief minister for piggybacking on the development of TMC-ruled Bengal to flex its initiaves.

"Mr. @narendramodi is so helpless to save his party that other than changing CMs, he has also had to resort to using pictures of growth & infrastructure seen under @MamataOfficial
's leadership, as his own. #BengalModel > #BJPRuledStatesModel Mr Modi?" senior leader Mukul Roy who switched from BJP to TMC said.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, also the UP in-charge, also slammed and the advertisement and said the people of the state have seen through their "false claims" and are going to change the chief minister and the government.

"First they were caught giving false advertisements on employment. Now their advertisement with false images of flyovers and factories have been exposed," Priyanka Gandhi said in a Facebook post in Hindi.

The people of UP have seen through the reality of their "hollow claims" and are now going to change the chief minister and the government, the Congress general secretary said.

In a tweet in Hindi, she further attacked the state government, saying it is their job to give false advertisements.

First, they lied about giving employment to the youth of UP and are now making "false claims" of development by putting "fake pictures of flyovers and factories", the Congress leader said.

There is neither an understanding of people's issues, nor there is any concern for them, it is only a government of false advertisements and claims, Priyanka Gandhi said.

The Indian Express, later in a tweet, said it regretted the error and removed it from all its digital editions. " A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper," the publication said.

BJP leader Amit Malviya in a retort to TMC said, "The chaps in TMC and assorted opposition jumped up and down in excitement as a result. Who will now compensate for killing their excitement? Double whammy this."

However, several others, including TMC leaders questioned why the the publication was issuing an apology when the final say on what gets published as an advertorial lies with the state agency.

(With PTI inputs)

Check out latest DH videos here

1