Haryana: Sanitisers with photos of CM Manohar Lal Khattar, deputy CM Dushyant withdrawn after furore

CHANDIGARH: Photographs of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and deputy CM Dushyant Chautala pasted on bottles of hand sanitizers being distributed in the state sparked controversy with opposition accusing the BJP-JJP coalition government of “self-promotion” at the time of crisis.
Facing a lot of criticism, the Haryana government asked the distilleries producing these sanitizers for supply to the state government to stop using the CM and deputy CM’s photographs on the bottles.
A large stock of 180ml bottles of hand sanitizers were distributed by several distilleries of Haryana in hospitals, police checkpoints and other required places through district administrations in the state. The bottles sporting the photographs of the CM and deputy CM were supplied on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sources, however, confirmed that without instruction from the state authorities, the distilleries could not have paste these photographs on the labels of these bottles at their own.
The decision to paste photographs of the two senior leaders of the state, however, led to a major controversy as the opposition parties on Wednesday morning alleged that the Haryana collation government was playing politics even in this crucial period.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the leader of opposition in Haryana, said if the BJP-JJP government wanted to take credit for this, they could have used the state government’s emblem. “It is a time when every leader should work above political lines. It’s a classic example of insensitivity of BJP-JJP coalition and should have been avoided,” Hooda added.
Senior INLD leader Abhay Chautala said there cannot be anything more shameful than this. “In the all party meetings, we had promised Manohar Lal Khattar to provide all kinds of assistance above the party lines to the state government in this crucial time but through such a shameful gesture, these leaders have reflected their low mentality,” Abhay added.
Sharing photographs on his social media platform of a sanitizer bottle with label that had photographs of Dushyant and Khattar, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Stop doing politics in this tragic period, people would start losing faith in the political system. Please rectify it”.
Amit Arya, media adviser to Haryana CM, said the photographs of the CM and deputy CM were published by the distillery owners on their own and there were no instructions from the government. He added that now the distilleries have been instructed not to use such photographs.
While toning down the issue, CM Khattar said the matter is in his knowledge but at this juncture when society is fighting against Covid-19, there is no logic in discussing such issues. A JJP spokesperson added that one of distilleries in Haryana, which had produced such sanitizers also has one unit in Punjab where they had carried Punjab CM, Captain Amarinder Singh’s photograph on the bottles of sanitizers. “Apparently, the distilleries followed the same design and style in Haryana,” he added.
CAPTION: Ration sack with CM Captain Amarinder Singh photo
BOX Punjab's ration sacks have Amarinder photo
The Punjab government's ration sacks too have created a controversy as these have
a photograph of the chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, reports Neel Kamal from Bathinda. Bottles of hand sanitizers with photograph of Amarinder on labels have also been distributed.
The state plans to provide ration to 10 lakh persons and has placed orders for an equal number of sacks. Punjab food & civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu told TOI: “The Punjab government has placed orders for pulses and sugar while flour is being prepared in flour mills. The 10 lakh sacks of ration will be provided to needy persons and distribution of ration will be started at the earliest.” He confirmed that a photograph of the CM has been printed on the sacks.
Farmer organisations are objecting to the photograph and have accused the state government of trying to get publicity.