In a major embarrassment to the BJP, a new poster of the BJP released in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh boasted a silhouetted image of soldiers from 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Screaming Eagles of the US armed forces.
The image has also famously appeared as a banner by the famed TV war series Band of Brothers.
Notably, the BJP has indirectly kept the Uri terror attack in public discourse but it seems odd that Indian soldiers were not put on the posters, even if the Army’s responding surgical strikes operations are being projected as an achievement by the party.
According to a news report in the Indian Express, the image printed in the poster was apparently clicked in Iraq during American military operations and has no link to Indian armed forces.
The poster which appeared in Mahanagar, Varanasi was put up apparently to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Lok Sabha constituency, ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017.
The poster features PM Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and several local BJP leaders like Pradeep Agrahari, Naveen Kapoor and Maneesh Kapoor.
This poster comes after ‘Avengers of Uri’ posters were seen in Lucknow this month when PM Modi delivered his Dussehra address while also launching the party’s election campaign in the poll-bound state.
The Uri attack and surgical strikes carried out subsequently have been used extensively by political outfits in the recent weeks and the BJP’s posters follow in the same line. If not commissioned by the leaders, it was a faux pas seemingly by the party workers trying to impress the PM.
Interestingly, the soldiers pictured on the posters are not even Indian to begin with but maybe just put for dramatic effect.
