Jai Ram govt gave Rs 2.93 cr ad to BJP’s mouthpieces: Cong

The Congress government today said that the previous regime headed by Jai Ram Thakur had issued advertisements worth more than Rs 2.93 crore to papers, magazines and journals associated with the BJP.

Naresh Chauhan, Principal Media Adviser to the Chief Minister, while talking to mediapersons here, refuted the BJP’s charge over the release of advertisements to National Herald. “In the past two and a half years, advertisements worth Rs 1 crore were given to National Herald. On the other hand, the previous BJP government had released Rs 2.93 crore worth of advertisements to the party’s mouthpiece journals and magazines.

Chauhan said that the allegations levelled by Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur over the release of Rs 2.34 crore worth of advertisements to National Herald were misleading. He added that Organiser, Panchjanaya, Matrivandana magazines and journals, considered to be the mouthpieces of the BJP, were given advertisements worth more than Rs 2 crore. “The BJP government had given advertisements worth more than Rs 74 lakh to Deep Kamal Sandesh, Chhatra Udghosh magazine of the ABVP and Tarun Bharat magazine brought out by the RSS and published from Nagpur,” he added.

Chauhan said, “I am surprised over the statement of the BJP leaders that National Herald is no more published. National Herald is still being published from New Delhi in English and as ‘Sunday Navjeevan’ in Hindi.”