Kolkata: A full-page newspaper advertisement in a mainstream daily, intended to tom-tom the achievements of the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh, has boomeranged.
Though the textual content of the ad was as innocuous as any, a mere enumeration of the developmental works undertaken by the UP government, the works it tried to showcase by inserting pictorial elements clearly backfired.
Below the advertisement is a photo of a flyover in blue-white paint, which was identified by many social media users as the 'Ma Flyover' in central Kolkata built by Mamata Bannerjee's government. Inadvertently, going into a pre-election overdrive, the UP government had showcased the works of the Bengal government, felt detractors.
As the controversy snowballed, the mainstream daily offered an apology, blaming the goof-up on their marketing team, but there were takers for it in Bengal. In no time, a war of words ensued between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said that a mistake can happen and if the TMC wants they can move the court. “Whether it is Maa flyover or Baba flyover, I don’t know. There can be a mistake and if the TMC wants they can move the court against the BJP,” said Ghosh.
West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said that the flyover had collapsed during the TMC regime taking several lives and also that he was not aware what exactly the advertisement was all about.
On the other hand, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took to Twitter and wrote, “Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial's leadership and using them as his own! Looks like the 'DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL' has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all!”
TMC state general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that BJP was in a way vouching for the development in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s regime.
“Is it true @myogiadityanath @BJP4Bengal @BJPTripura that UP CM is claiming success by using Kolkata pictures? If it is so, what a shame!!!! May we have an explanation from @amitmalviya?” read Kunal’s tweet.
Terming both the BJP and the TMC ‘thieves’, senior left Front leader and politburo member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said that the TMC had ‘stolen’ the schemes of the CPI (M).
