UP govt's Ad showing Kolkata flyover sparks row

New Delhi, Sep 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party found itself red-faced after a purported image of a Kolkata flyover in an Uttar Pradesh government advertisement to project the economic progress of the state under its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath went viral.

The advertisement titled ''Transforming Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath'' showed an image of a flyover painted in blue-and-white colours synonymous with the TMC government along with high-rises and industries juxtaposed below a cut-out of Yogi Adityanath.

"Before 2017, UP was not taken seriously with regard to investment, but in his four-and-a-half-year rule, that negative perception has been broken and in 2020, it has emerged as the second largest economy in the country," the message in the advertisement read.

Noting that it was yet to be confirmed that the image was that of a Kolkata flyover, West Bengal BJP claimed that while the UP government constructs expressways, flyovers come crashing down under the Mamata Banerjee regime in the eastern state.

The Trinamool Congress on Sunday took strong exception to the use of a purported image of a Kolkata flyover in an Uttar Pradesh government advertisement to project the economic progress of the state under its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Indian Express, which had carried the advertisement has issued a clarification.

A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper.

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) September 12, 2021

"A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper."

The TMC, however, left no opportunity to ridicule the BJP over the episode, claiming that the saffron party has now indirectly accepted the "development spree" under the Mamata Banerjee government and even tried to appropriate it.

Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial's leadership and using them as his own!

Looks like the 'DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL' has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all! https://t.co/h9OlnhmGPw

— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 12, 2021

Mukul Roy, who has returned to the TMC after winning a West Bengal assembly seat on a BJP ticket, tweeted:

Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial's leadership and using them as his own!

Looks like the 'DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL' has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all! https://t.co/h9OlnhmGPw

— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 12, 2021