The Hindu : Other States / Maharashtra News : Congressmen protest against magazine picture

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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

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Other States - Maharashtra

Congressmen protest against magazine picture

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, MAY 4. The publication of a morphed picture showing the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in the arms of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, in weekly magazine, Chitralekha, angered Congress workers who staged a demonstration at the weekly's office here today. They also burnt copies of the weekly.

The publisher, Bharat Kapadia, told The Hindu that he had sensed the anger of "some people" when police arrived at the publication's office on their own to provide protection on Sunday evening. Sensing trouble, the weekly faxed its apologies to the Congress and the BJP. But that did not stop the Congressmen.

Mr. Kapadia said the morphed picture was making the rounds on the net and was carried in a lighter column of the weekly published in Gujarati and Marathi. "It is like a cartoon or a caricature but it seems some people either lack a sense of humour or have personal political mileage to draw from it." "We hold both, Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Advani, in high esteem," he said.

A Congress spokesman, Mahadev Shelar, said the party was not happy with the apology and the Maharashtra Congress president, Ranjit Deshmukh, had written to the weekly to apologise through newspaper advertisements.

Mr. Kapadia said he would publish the apology in the next issue and refused to say anything on the Congress demand for public apology through advertisements. He said he had received no such communication.

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