BJP Mocks Congress Manifesto Over Alleged Use of Foreign Images
New Delhi, 6th April 2024: Numerous BJP leaders have taken to social media to mock the Congress party’s election manifesto, alleging that it featured images from foreign locales such as Thailand and the Buffalo River in New York. The Congress faced criticism from both BJP leaders and social media users for incorporating these foreign images in the sections on environment and water management.
The BJP accused the Congress of including a picture of grasslands from Thailand in the environment section and a photo of the Buffalo River in New York under water management. Amit Malviya, the BJP IT-cell in-charge, sarcastically questioned whether the manifesto was intended for India or served as a holiday itinerary for Rahul Gandhi, suggesting that Gandhi might embark on another vacation to Thailand post-elections.
During a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also took a dig at the Congress for the alleged oversight, pointing out the incongruity between the manifesto’s content and the party’s leadership. Trivedi’s remarks indirectly referenced Congress leader Supriya Shrinate’s recent social media controversy, where she claimed that objectionable posts against BJP’s Kangana Ranaut were made by someone with unauthorized access to her accounts.
Kanchan Gupta, a senior advisor at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, sarcastically highlighted Rahul Gandhi’s fondness for Thailand, suggesting that the influence of Gandhi’s preferred holiday destination had seeped into the Congress manifesto.
This isn’t the first time a political party has faced criticism for manifesto errors. In the past, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor received backlash for displaying a map of India without parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in the Congress chief’s election manifesto. Tharoor later apologized and issued a revised version after facing criticism from the BJP.
However, such blunders are not exclusive to the Congress. Before the Gujarat Assembly election in 2022, the BJP faced ridicule after several leaders shared images of a Mumbai flyover to tout infrastructural development in Gujarat. It was later revealed that the flyover depicted in the BJP’s graphics was the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road in Mumbai.
