In an apparent tongue-in-cheek remark on the Supreme Court’s order — restraining publication of Government advertisements carrying pictures of political leaders — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday suggested that the apex court should now also decide the dress code of politicians. “I cannot question the SC’s order that the Chief Minister and other Ministers’ pictures should not be there in Government advertisements. We will obey it in letter and in spirit. It would be better if, from now on, the SC decides on our (politicians’) dress code too. I will appeal to the court to issue order in this direction,” Yadav said.
This statement showed his annoyance over the SC order which he tried to camouflage by saying that the Samajwadi Party leaders are not publicity hungry. “We do not want our photos to be published in newspapers. We want our work to speak for itself. I always believe that the SP is good in implementing policies but very poor in publicity,” he told reporters.
The SC had on Wednesday held that government adverts could carry only the pictures of the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India effectively barring those like Chief Ministers, Governors and Union Ministers. The apex court said such photos divert attention from the policy of the government, unnecessarily associate an individual with a government project and pave the way for cultivating a “personality cult”.