Ration card with Jesus photo in Andhra sparks row

Indians and ration cards are interlinked with each other in some ways. Many of us possess a ration card, the one in need uses it, and it carries the photo of the family head. Among all the cards that are in vogue in the modern age, the ration card holds a particular significance when it comes to our society.

But what if the ration card has the photo of a religious figure? The bizarre incident happened allegedly in Andhra Pradesh. A ration card, with the picture of Jesus Christ, went viral on social media. Most of the users claimed that the origin of the ration card lies in Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh government, however, refuted the claims and said that the family of a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) member did so to "promote propaganda". The state government in an official statement said "Ration dealer husband, who is a TDP member from Vadlamuru village, had printed Jesus Christ's picture on the ration cards and intentionally promoted the propaganda."

According to the government statement, this is not the first time that the religious figures have graced the ration card. The dealer who printed Jesus' picture had previously printed the picture of Satya Saibaba in 2016 and Lord Venkateshwara in 2017 and 2018.