Opp says Tripura govt used picture of Kolkata flyover – The Indian Express

Tripura government officials, however, justified the move and said the image was used for a pan-India competition that wasn’t limited to the state.

The poster — shared from the Twitter handle My Gov Tripura – called for entries to participate in the “Motor Vehicle Driving regulations Slogan Writing Competition”. The Twitter post also included a photograph of a flyover, which is purportedly located in Kolkata, as pointed out by users on the social media website.

The tweet was deleted soon after.

Using pictures of Kolkata’s famous Sealdah flyover to project the development of Tripura, is nothing but a recognition of Bengal’s success in development.
First UP, now Tripura, waiting for the central government to showcase us falsely claiming as them! Bengal is the model. pic.twitter.com/8SitZjf8bQ

— Trinankur Bhattacharjee (@TrinankurWBTMCP) December 11, 2021

The Trinamool Congress, which heads the West Bengal government, took potshots at the Tripura government.

“Is @BJP4Tripura claiming that these are their roads? Are there no well-maintained roads in Tripura? Has @BJPBiplab really NEGLECTED DEVELOPMENT to this extent? Ridiculous how BJP repeatedly steals from the #BengalModel to showcase @MamataOfficial’s development work as theirs!” the party wrote on Twitter.

Is @BJP4Tripura claiming that these are their roads? Are there no well-maintained roads in Tripura? Has @BjpBiplab really NEGLECTED DEVELOPMENT to this extent?

Ridiculous how BJP repeatedly steals from the #BengalModel to showcase @MamataOfficial‘s developmental work as theirs! https://t.co/1HkcsRs6G1

— AITC Tripura (@AITC4Tripura) December 10, 2021

Tripura’s TMC convener Subal Bhowmik said putting out the poster was a “shameful” act by the BJP-led government as Bengal’s development was “rented” to showcase Tripura CM Biplab Deb’s success. “It is a rented campaign of Tripura’s BJP government,” Bhowmik said.

A CPI(M) leader who wished to remain anonymous criticised the move and pointed out that the photograph of Bengal-based infrastructure was used for the second time in a BJP-ruled state in recent months. He was referring to an advertisement by the Uttar Pradesh government, which purportedly showed an image of a Kolkata flyover in September.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official of the state’s Information Technology (IT) Department said the poster was designed by them, but added that the photograph used in it was selected as the competition is an all-India contest and not specifically related to Tripura.

“This subject was not related to Tripura state only. This was a slogan competition organised by My Gov India, managed by the Government of India. It is a contest of entire India, not Tripura-specific. During designing of graphics, it was not considered wherefrom it was taken. Since it is All India-level competition, whatever we got we have used in the graphics”, the official, who wished to remain anonymous, said on Saturday.

He also said the image of a busy flyover was chosen to showcase congested and accident-prone roads to focus on the necessity of driving regulations.

Tripura BJP chief spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty dismissed the accusations, and took a similar stand. “This tweet was about an all-India competition on road safety. The state government tweeted it so that people from the state participate in it. It showed congested roads, irrespective of where it was from, to make people aware about need of motor safety. All the states are in India at the first place. Whoever criticizes this is a negative and narrow-minded politics,” he said.