New Delhi: A week after Air India withdrew boarding passes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face on it, this time it is the Railways committing a second faux pas. The Indian Railways was found violating the model code of conduct before the 2019 General Elections as passengers reported tea being served in paper cups with "main bhi chowkidaar" ('I'm also watchman') written on them. The catchphrase is an integral part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) poll campaign.
The image tweeted by a passenger on Kathgodam Shatabdi went viral and forced the Railways to take action. In a response, Railways said that it had withdrawn the cup and penalised the contractor. The advertisement on the cup was by Sankalp Foundation, a non-government organisation.
An IRCTC spokesperson said, "Reports that tea has been served in cups labelled as "main bhi chowkidar" have been investigated. This was without any prior approval of IRCTC. An explanation has been sought from supervisor/pantry Incharges over dereliction of duty. A fine of Rs 1 lakh fine has been imposed on the service provider. A showcause notice has also been served to the service provider for this misconduct."
This forms the second violation of the model code of conduct by the Railways. Earlier, it was found issuing tickets with Modi's pictures on them, just like Air India. The Railways also withdrew the tickets later, saying that it was an "unintentional and inadvertent mistake."
And here's how Twitter reacted to the incident: