Hyderabad: Political parties in Telangana are divided over the recent Supreme Court order banning publication of photos of leaders in government advertisements except those of the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.
While the Opposition parties have welcomed the SC orders, the ruling TRS has expressed reservations over the issue.
“As far as I know, the SC ruling pertains to advertisements issued by the Centre. But I feel that the photo of the Chief Minister should be incorporated in such advertisements, if not others like ministers or MPs, because the CM heads the government in the state. We will discuss the issue with the CM and consider filing an appeal in the Supreme Court on this," said Mr A. Indrakaran Reddy, minister for Law, Endowments and Housing.
The BJP on the other hand, has welcomed the move. "There is no need for incorporating the photos of CMs in advertisements issued by the Centre. It creates an impression among the public, especially in rural areas, that the schemes being implemented by the Centre belong to the state government," said Mr N.V.S.S. Prabhakar, BJP MLA from Uppal.
TDP MLA from Quthbullapur, Mr A. Vivek said, "There is confusion over whether the SC ruling pertains to advertisements issued by the Centre or state. If it relates to the Centre, it does not have much impact on states, since the state governments issue significant number of advertisements with photos of the CM for each and every occasion."
