Press Statement issued by
BJP National Spokesperson and MP, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

Misuse of the government’s machinery and resources for partisan political gains has been a part of the corrupt political culture of the Congress party for a long time. During the reign of the UPA government, such misuse has become more blatant and widespread than ever before.

This is evident from the routine, almost mandatory, use of Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s photos in all government advertisements. Often her photographs are featured more prominently than those of the Prime Minister. Not only government departments, but also public sector undertakings and Congress-led state governments are used to project her through advertisements, which have been appearing almost on a daily basis. Thus, the Congress president is getting free and privileged publicity at the cost of crores of rupees from the public exchequer.

This is improper and illegitimate. Smt. Sonia Gandhi holds no official position in the government to merit a place in official advertisements. So long as she was the chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), the government and the Congress party at least had an excuse — albeit a lame one — for using her photos in official advertisements. That excuse has long ceased to exist after her resignation from the chairpersonship of NAC, in the wake of the office-of-profit controversy, and the subsequent disbanding of NAC itself. Now Smt. Sonia Gandhi is described in official advertisements as ‘Chairperson of the UPA’. This is a not a governmental office. It is merely a political title, which confers no entitlement or legitimacy for being featured in media advertisements that are paid for by the government.

The BJP demands that the Prime Minister’s Office instruct all ministries, departments and PSUs to put an immediate end to this corrupt and unjustifiable practice. A directive to this effect must go immediately so that, when the government completes four years on May 22, Smt. Sonia Gandhi is not projected in the publicity blitz that will be launched on the occasion. After May 22, the UPA government will enter the last year of its tenure in office. Parliamentary elections will have to be held within the next 12 months. In this election year, the government must not be allowed to continue with a corrupt practice aimed at providing unfair media advantage to the Congress president.

Though, Dr. Manmohan Singh is a nominated Prime Minister by Smt. Sonia Gandhi, yet we hope that appropriate direction would be given by him to stop this palpably illegal and unjustified practice.

(Shyam Jaju)
Office Incharge