New Delhi: Indian Railways was embroiled in yet another controversy on Friday after rail passengers aboard a Shatabdi Express posted on social media pictures of tea being served in cups with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Main bhi chowkidar” slogan written on it.
The slogan was coined to counter the Congress’ “Chowkidar chor hai” narrative.
Indian Railways immediately withdrew the cups after the tweets went viral, but some reports said the Election Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident.
A colleague shares how #MainBhiChowkidar branding is being used on train….
Train No. 12040 #KathgodamShatabdi has tea served twice in these cups!
Is this not violation of MCC??@RailMinIndia @SpokespersonECI @PiyushGoyal @ECISVEEP pic.twitter.com/hZjhCnUP9U— Payal Mehta/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) March 29, 2019
Passengers on the 12040 New Delhi-Kathgodam Express posted pictures of the cups and tagged the Election Commission about violation of the model code of conduct.
The cup reads, “Aatankwaad se rashtra ki raksha kare (Protect my country from terrorism), Sainiko ke samman ki raksha kare (Protect the dignity of my soldiers), Rashtra ke gaurav ki raksha kare (Protect the honour of my country).”
One user confirmed the cups were used and even posted that the slogan was part of a paid advert.
Now it’s being confirmed by @RailMinIndia that the glasses were used today. Action will be taken against the contractors & also this was a paid advert… pic.twitter.com/QLpbPLMK0v
— Payal Mehta/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) March 29, 2019
Railways was quick to pass the blame on the licensee, claiming they did not take permission from IRCTC for the advertisement. A fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the licensee and it has also been served a show-cause notice.
As per an agreement, the space on cups and other such material is used for paid publicity by the licensees. The licensees are supposed to take prior permission for printing advertisements from IRCTC. “However, in this case no such approval has been taken,” an IRCTC statement said. “These lapses were overlooked by the on-board supervisory staff/pantry in-charges. Explanation has been called for, from the on-board supervisory staff/pantry in-charges for carelessness,” it further added.
According to unconfirmed reports, cups with “Main bhi chowkidaar” were spotted at the New Delhi station. Reports said the cups had also made their way to Howrah, though an Eastern Railway official denied the same.
Earlier, Indian Railways had drawn criticism after rail passengers brought to its notice how reservation tickets bore photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the tickets were being withdrawn from circulation, Air India passengers tweeted showing the Prime Minister’s picture at the back of boarding passes. The airline has promised corrective measures.
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