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.
Thanks to UP CM for transforming West Bengal Flyover and transporting it to Uttar Pradesh even before he became CM of Uttar Pradesh. 👏👏🙏 pic.twitter.com/oT8jskwbvI
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 12, 2021
Accusing the Yogi government of plaigarism, many posted pictures of the front page on social media.
This is an open request by the UP govt to Mamata Banerjee to please take over UP because humse to na ho payega. pic.twitter.com/rpeYltKVtP
— Shivam Vij 🇮🇳 (@DilliDurAst) September 12, 2021
Ajay Bisht is transforming Uttar Pradesh by using Bengal's Maa Flyover picture.
— TMC For Tripura (@TMCforTripura) September 12, 2021
This is what happens when you don't do any work, and only focus on anti Romeo squad, lynchings. pic.twitter.com/bzKpAppsJU
At the bottom of this adv by Ajay Bisht is shown a flyover.
— Vinay Kumar Dokania (@VinayDokania) September 12, 2021
While Yogi uses Kolkata's infrastructure to highlight his work in UP,facts r loud&clear
The photo used is of Maa Flyover, Kolkata,3rd Longest flyover in India.
I hope Now Yogi doesn't change the name of kolkata to UP pic.twitter.com/oq0nNYBK1f
Love the salute too!
— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) September 12, 2021
Sieg Heil or Yogi Heil?
Or just inadvertent error by marketing dept? pic.twitter.com/DgXkDQPLZG
"Thuggy Yogi in his UP ads with Kolkata’s MAA flyover, our JW Marriott & our iconic yellow taxis!" TMC leader Mahua Moitra tweeted.
Thuggy Yogi in his UP ads with Kolkata’s MAA flyover, our JW Marriott & our iconic yellow taxis!
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) September 12, 2021
Change your soul or at least your ad agency Gudduji!
P.S. Looking forward to FIRs against me in Noida now :-) pic.twitter.com/I7TRUMvCjO
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.
Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial's leadership and using them as his own!
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 12, 2021
Looks like the 'DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL' has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all! https://t.co/h9OlnhmGPw
"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.
Are you really telling us that the team of @myogiadityanath doesn’t proof-check an advertorial they paid for before is it published?
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) September 12, 2021
Pls blink twice if @ShishirGoUP & @shalabhmani are bullying you, Indian Express.
Don’t let them make a Vijay Rupani of you. https://t.co/Dx9ahCPIiW
(With PTI inputs)
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