Govt turns to ‘Modi bhakt’ singer Rocky Mittal, again

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 28

“Modi bhakt” singer Rocky Mittal, who was removed as publicity advisor to the state government in January for taking on the bureaucracy for alleged corruption, is back in the reckoning.

He has been appointed the Project Director of the “Ek Aur Sudhar Cell” of the Information and Public Relations Department.

He came to limelight for his song series “Modi Amritvani” on YouTube. He had sung paeans to Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Mittal will head the newly created cell to coordinate with the media and officials to project a better image of the Manohar Lal Khattar government.

In September last year, Mittal was appointed publicity advisor (audio/visual) to assist the government in the golden jubilee celebrations. He, however, was soon at loggerheads with the bureaucracy. He had accused a senior IAS officer associated with the celebrations of irregularities in expenditure. Mittal had claimed Rs11 crore was splurged on the inaugural function in Gurugram on November 1, 2016.

For his “services” to the BJP during elections, he was first offered the post of chief advisor to the Haryana Kala Parishad. He, however, declined the offer, calling it an “insult to his talent” since he wanted a “state-level role”. He was later adjusted as the publicity advisor before being shown the door for his “unsubstantiated” allegations against senior officers.

The allotment of a luxury car with a red beacon and considerable money spent on the renovation of his office in the Haryana Civil Secretariat here had raised many an eyebrow.

Shades of saffron  

• Jai Bhagwan, alias Rocky Mittal, came to limelight for his song series ‘Modi Amritvani’ on YouTube
• He had sung paeans to Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections