School bags with Akhilesh's photo being distributed in Gujarat

Lucknow: It was an embarrassing situation for the BJP Governments, both in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat after 12,000 school bags with the image of former UP Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and a tagline of ‘Khoob Padhao, Khoob badhao’, were distributed in Gujarat State Government schools.

The incident was reported from tribal village Sankheda where an enrollment drive ‘Shala Pravesh Utsav’ was going on. The bags distributed by Zila Panchayat officials of Chotta Udepur carried a sticker with a panchayat' logo. But when the sticker was peeled off by some students, the photo of Akhilesh Yadav and its tagline were revealed. Mr Yadav did not wait to shoot a question to the BJP leadership on the issue.

In a tweet last night, he said,"Sawal ye hai ki UP ke baste Gujarat me kaise bant rahe hai. Sticker se tasveer to chhipaya ja rahi hai, lekhin Samajwadi kaam aur rang phir bhi dikh raha hai (It is a question as to how the school bags of UP were being distributed in Gujarat. Sticker is being used to cover up the photo, but still the Samajwadi work and colour are seen on the bag)." Commenting on the incident, Samajwadi Party MLC and Mr Yadav’s close aide, Sunil Singh Sajan said, “This is a matter of shame for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Government and also for the Gujarat Government.

How can schools bags with Akhilesh Yadav’s image be distributed in Gujarat? It can only be done by stealing the school bags meant for UP schools. Mr Adityanath is a blot in the name of a saint. The UP Government should clarify how these bags reached Gujarat.” According to the media reports, local officials have claimed that the bags were supplied by a firm in Surat.

The Gujarat Government had already ordered a probe into the matter. A Surat firm may have been supplying similar bags to the UP Government earlier and picture of Mr Yadav was found printed mistakenly only on five per cent of the bags that were supplied. The same company has been selected to supply school bags in Gujarat too at a price of Rs 124 each bag.

The SP Government, when in power last year, had sanctioned about 1.8-crore school bags for students, but the process was stopped midway after the announcement of the Assembly elections. Interestingly, when Mr Adityanath became the Chief Minister, he allowed distribution of school bags with Mr Yadav’s image as he was against wasting public money. Also, he wanted the bags to reach the students on time for the new session, which began in April. (UNI)