Haryana: Hand Sanitizers With CM Khattar, Deputy Chautala's Pictures Withdrawn After Backlash Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Hand sanitizers with pictures of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his deputy Dushyant Chautala were reportedly distributed by several Haryana distilleries in hospitals, police checkpoints and several other areas through district administration in the state.

The Haryana government was heavily criticised when a photo of sanitizer with the ministers' pictures went viral on social media.

According to the reports, the bottles were supplied on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, the state government denied issuing any such instructions to the distillery owners.

Amit Arya, who is the media adviser to CM Khattar, said that photographs of the ministers were pasted by the distillery owners on their own, however, on taking cognisance of such an incident, the distilleries have been asked to stop using the photographs.

Springing on the occasion, the opposition slammed the Khattar-led government and accused them of involving in "cheap politics" at a time of a global pandemic.

Tweeting a picture of hand sanitizer on his official handle, Congress' Chief Spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala, said, "Respected Khattarji & Dushyantji, during this coronavirus pandemic, can't you look beyond cheap politics & self-promotion?"

Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, Deepender Singh Hooda, said that the BJP-JJP coalition has failed to understand the seriousness of the situation and is assuming it as their poll rally and not a pandemic. He also said that using the disease for their own promotion is the ugly face of politics.

In his tweet, he also wondered whether the leaders' photos will now appear on face masks.

"After sanitizers, will the leaders' photos appear on masks. This sanitizer bottle will for years remind the people of the insensitivity of the BJP-JJP," tweeted the Congress minister.

Later in the day, Chief Minister Khattar also tweeted on the matter.

However, his tweet disregarded any ownership of the incident and instead accused the opposition on cashing in on the global crisis situation for political advancements.

"The matter of my photo on a hand sanitizers has come to my notice. At a time when the entire nation is together in this fight against coronavirus, there is no use in discussing such things..," tweeted Khattar.

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