Posters depicting PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah defaced in Kanpur

LUCKNOW: Defaced pictures of prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah were on display in Kanpur on Saturday as the party began its review of the Maha Sampark Abhiyan exercise (meeting of volunteers) in the state. Unidentified elements had blackened one poster and several hoardings bearing the photos of Modi and Shah.

Shah arrived in Kanpur to take stock of the meeting of volunteers in Uttar Pradesh. Though all senior leaders and MPs were asked to be present for the important meeting, several big names chose to skip the event. Senior BJP leader and sitting Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi was conspicuous by his absence. So were other key leaders such as Union minister Maneka Gandhi and her son Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath and Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

On Friday, a long-running friction between various factions of the BJP and RSS came to the fore when posters and hoardings of RSS leader Sanjay Joshi were splashed across several places in Kanpur. Joshi is known for his tumultuous relation with the BJP leadership, particularly Modi. The posters even carried messages taunting the leadership. One hoarding said: “Pakistan, Bangladesh ko Ramzaan par deto ho badhai, Sushma, Advani, Sanjay Joshi, Rajnath, Gadkari, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vasundhara ke liye dil mein hai khatai”. Modi had wished the leadership of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afganistan on the eve of Ramzan. These posters were removed on Saturday as Shah arrived.