Madhya Pradesh: BJP red-faced over Modi ad goof-up

In a goof-up, a full-page newspaper advertisement, sponsored by supporters of a local BJP leader, announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Bhabhra, the birth place of revolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad, in Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday to celebrate “Adivasi Unmoolan Divas” or “Tribal Eradication Day”, in place of “World Tribal Day”, leaving the ruling BJP here red faced.

The advertisement by the Sanstha Saadgi Kapil Chaudhary Mitra Mandal on the occasion of local BJP leader, and former MLA, Jitu Jirati’s birthday, appeared in all major Hindi dailies in MP on Monday, creating a ripple in ruling party circles here.

Photographs of the PM, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP president Amit Shah, senior party leaders Kailash Vijvargiya and Jirati were carried in the advertisement. Mr Jirati was not available for comment.

Local BJP unit spokesperson Alok Dubey, however, described it a “mistake in proof reading” which “inadvertently” replaced the word “unnayan” (development) with “unmoolon”.

However, some in the BJP have a different take. “It sounds unbelievable that one can write wrong Hindi in India’s Hindi heartland,” a senior BJP leader here observed, requesting anonymity.

He sought a probe into it to ascertain if it was a deliberate design to defame the BJP among tribals.