Perumal Murugan’s photo in hoarding puts BJP in a soup
The Hindu
Party blames ad agency for hoarding faux pas
A day after featuring noted Tamil author Perumal Murugan apparently as a slum dweller from Delhi on background hoardings at a public meeting in the capital, the BJP expressed regret and apologised — though only off the record — for what insiders termed a faux pas arising out of lack of oversight.
“It is an unintentional error; the hoarding was prepared by an ad agency and we have taken up the matter with it. The party’s national unit has taken exception and demanded an explanation,” a party leader said.
“Hoardings, posters as well as party literature are, as per protocol, checked before being given the go-ahead and being produced for party events; that seems to have been ignored this time for some reason,” another leader said.

In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












