India's BJP under fire for using photos of Indian Pilot Abhinandan in elections posters
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NEW DELHI: India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is under fire for using photos of Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in its election posters.
According to Indian media reports link, a banner carrying photographs of BJP chief Amit Shah, other party candidates with Abhinandan surfaced in Delhi’s Mehrauli area on Saturday, with the catchphrases, *‘Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai'* and *‘NaMo Again’*, leading the Indian Election Commission to issue an advisory.
After pictures of the poster went viral, the Indian Defence Ministry brought the matter to the notice of the election commission, which asked the political parties not to use photographs of defence personnel in posters used for poll campaigning.
On March 1, the Pakistani government had released the Indian pilot who was captured when his MiG-21 was among two Indian military aircraft shot down by Pakistan Air Force after they ventured into the Pakistani airspace, as a "gesture of peace" towards New Delhi.
Social media users criticised the party and called it "shameful" and a "cheap poll trick".
Journalist Rama Lakshmi questioned the political party and asked, "Is the BJP allowed to use Abhinandan in its posters? It is 'a slippery slope'."
