Uttar Pradesh: In what may seem to be a clear violation of Model Code of Conduct, the railways authorities at Barabanki Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh were found giving train tickets carrying a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
The matter came to light on Sunday when Shabbar Rizvi bought a ticket of the Ganga-Satluj Express (train number 13308) for a relative who had to travel from Barabanki to Varanasi on April 16. Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of PM Narendra Modi.
Train tickets with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are still being sold in Uttar Pradesh in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections, even after the Indian Railways said it would withdraw them following allegations of poll code violation.
He claimed others who were issued the same tickets protested too. A supervisor at the booking office told the media that a paper roll with PM Modi’s photo was inserted into the printing machine “by mistake”.
Earlier, the railways had announced it would withdraw the tickets after a Trinamool delegation approached the Election Commission of India accusing the BJP of violating the poll code.
The TMC delegation comprising Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Chandan Mitra told the election body that PM Modi’s photo was being published on railway tickets as part of a government scheme, which, the party said, was in violation of the code.
Days after that, social media users reported that tea was being served on a Shatabdi train in paper cups with PM Modi’s campaign line, “Main Bhi Chowkidar (I’m also watchman)”, printed on them.
Earlier too, the Indian Railways was in the line of fire after a photo of tea being served in a “Main Bhi Chowkidar” cup went viral on social media, the railways said it had withdrawn the glasses and penalised the contractor. The railways fined the contractor Rs. 1 lakh, according to a statement.
