Congress under fire for controversial advertisement in Gujarat campaign
Ahmedabad/ New Delhi, Nov.28 (ANI)
The Congress party, which is the opposition in Gujarat, came under fire for a controversial advertisement on farmers' woes in the state.
The advertisement features photographs from the neighbouring state of Rajasthan.
"This is unfortunate, because it was also revealed only yesterday that the woman featured in a similar advertisement on malnutrition was actually from Sri Lanka. This is reprehensible, because Gujarat is actually making its name in the country and the world because of its development. We do not know why the Congress picks up these issues and defames Gujarat," said BJP leader Jagdish Bhavsar in Ahmedabad.
The Congress defended itself, saying that the images used were intended to be 'symbolic', and called on the BJP to defend itself against charges of malnourishment and farmer suicides.
"The photograph is symbolic. The advertisement says that over 55 per cent of Gujarat's women are malnourished. Why is the BJP government not saying anything about this? Why are they not answering for the malnourished children and the farmers committing suicide in the state?," said Congress leader Manish Doshi.
The BJP accused the Congress of cheating the people of Gujarat.
"The Congress is not even capable of carrying an original campaign against the BJP in Gujarat, and as a result they have been found to be borrowing or stealing visuals and other ideas from here and there, and that only shows the bankruptcy of the Congress campaign and of the Congress leadership. How the people of Gujarat react to this sort of cheating will be known in the next few days when voting takes place," said BJP leader Balbir Punj in New Delhi.
Fellow BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the Congress' very existence in Gujarat was on the line.
"The Congress party does not have an issue. In Gujarat, the Congress is fighting for its very existence," Naqvi said.
Gujarat will go to the polls in two phases on December 13 and 17, respectively and the results will be announced on December 20.