BJP, AAP lock horns over removal of Kejriwal's photo from I-Day advertisement

The BJP and the AAP traded barbs on Thursday over removal of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's photo from an Independence Day advertisement by the Delhi government.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged people are ''shocked'' to see dual faces of the Kejriwal government ministers as they want the chief minister's photo in the Independence Day advertisement but themselves omit it from the Cultural department advertisement.

The AAP hit back at the BJP charging it to be driven by a ''petty mentality'' and being insecure by Kejriwal's strong connection with the people of Delhi.

''Their insecurity is evident in the disgraceful act of removing his photo from the Independence Day posters,'' the AAP said in a statement.

Information and Publicity Minister Atishi on Tuesday issued show cause notices to top officers of the department for release of the advertisement without the Delhi chief minister's photo without her approval.

The officers of Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) had objected to Kejriwal's photo in the advertisement on the basis that he was currently under judicial custody.

''Minister Atishi has created a controversy over a Independence Day advertisement wishing to issue the advertisement with the jailed CM Kejriwal's photo but officials refused to issue it as that would have been against Independence Day function protocol and dignity,'' Sachdeva said.

He claimed that even as Atishi created the ''controversy'', her Cabinet colleague Saurabh Bhardwaj has himself put up hundreds of advertisement hoardings of a function of the Culture department without the chief minister's photo.

The AAP asserted the Delhi chief minister is the head of the democratically elected government and his photograph ''embodies the values of democracy and independence''.

The BJP's days in the country are numbered and people have rejected their ''negative and regressive'' politics, said the AAP.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)