The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday ordered that tiles with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan be removed from houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, reported PTI. It asked the state government to file a compliance report by December 20.
Justices Sanjay Yadav and Vivek Agrawal were hearing a public interest litigation plea filed by journalist Sanjay Purohit. The petitioner accused the state government of misusing public money and using the pictorial tiles to their advantage in the run-up to Assembly elections due later this year, reported News18.
Advocate Ankur Modi told PTI that the Centre in its reply said the houses can carry only the scheme’s logo. The state government told the judges it has modified an earlier order making it mandatory for the tiles to bear the pictures of the prime minister and the chief minister, Advocate General Purushendra Kaurav said.
Earlier, the Congress had demanded that the tiles be removed and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government of attempting to influence voters.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said the compliance date should be October 31 and not December 20. “Elections are due in November end,” he tweeted. “Must raise the issue before the court immediately.”
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