Modi's photo on Air India passes sparks controversy, Airlines withdraws tickets

Boarding passes issued by Air India with photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani triggered a controversy here, forcing the national carrier to withdraw them. The row erupted days after the Indian Railways was forced to withdraw tickets featuring photos of Modi following a complaint by the Trinamool Congress which alleged that it violated the model code of conduct for elections.

"Air India has decided to roll back the boarding passes of Vibrant Gujarat which had photos of the prime minister and the Gujarat chief minister," said Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar. Raising the issue, former Punjab DGP Shashi Kant tweeted a photo of his boarding pass having photos of Modi and Rupani in an advertisement for the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in January.

The boarding pass was issued at the New Delhi airport, Kanst said, adding how pictures of the two leaders could be on it. "At New Delhi airport today March 25th, 2019. My Air India Boarding Pass, prominently flashes Narendra Modi, "Vibrant Gujrat" & Vijay Rupani. Picture of boarding pass is below. Wonder why we are wasting public money on this Election Commission, which doesn't see, hear or speak...," he tweeted.

The post went viral with social media users alleging that these were attempts to promote the BJP ahead of the upcoming polls. Denying the allegations, the Air India spokesperson said the boarding passes were printed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit held in January this year and the photographs were part of the advertisement from 'third parties'.

"The rolls seem to be the ones left over from the boarding passes printed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and the photos are third-party advertisements. It has nothing to do with Air India. These boarding passes are not just for Gujarat, but are in use across India," Kumar said. Criticising the Air India, one Barkha Deva said on twitter: "Not only is there a clear violation of the MCC (Model Code of Conduct) but Air India's excuse that 'boarding passes seemed to be printed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit held in Jan and the photographs were part of the ad from third parties', is just astounding."

Last month, the Civil Aviation Ministry "requested" airlines flying on domestic routes to give their passengers a letter written by Suresh Prabhu that enlisted various "achievements and initiatives" of the Modi government in the aviation sector. On March 20, tickets with photos of the prime minister were withdrawn by the railways after the TMC raised the issue with the Election Commission.

The Railways had also said that it was a third-party ad and leftover from a pack of tickets printed a year earlier was used. The national transporter had instructed zones to withdraw the tickets.