Bhayandar: An elderly couple showering their blessings for the provision of enhanced medical facilities, an auto driver praising efforts for the construction of concrete roads and a housewife expressing gratitude for making her home smoke free by granting LPG connections - all these photos tagged with a common slogan "Mujhe Garve Hai" (I am Proud) and sporting the BJP's symbol have featured on scores of hoardings across the Mira-Bhayandar region.
However, the campaign has not gone down will with netizens who have hit back at the BJP on various social media platforms, with severe criticism for its desperate attempts of masking the reality.
There are two civic-run hospitals in the twin-city, however both lack even basic and emergency facilities, prompting on-duty medicos to refer patients to government hospitals in Mumbai, despite having referral options in the form of reservations at beneficiary hospitals.
Almost all roads in the city are pockmarked, as a 35-year-old was recently crushed to death by a truck after he hit a pothole in Kashimira.
As per the information on the billboard, the woman expressing gratitude for turning her home smoke free lives in an urban locality which already has LPG and piped gas facility.
To prove their point, netizens have clicked, shared and compared the promotional photos with the actual ground reality along with statistical information.
While local leaders have claimed to have used real beneficiaries to communicate the messaging impact fully, it is evident that the pre-campaign fever has already gripped the local BJP unit which has rolled a massive city-wide out-of-home campaign to boost its prospects in the constituency, more than two months ahead of assembly polls of which dates and names of candidates are yet to be announced.
By Suresh Golani
