NEW DELHI: The Himachal Pradesh government has issued a directive mandating prior approval for any photos of chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu released by government agencies.
According to the order, the Information and Public Relations Director (DIPR) must authorize all images of the chief minister before their dissemination, whether taken during departmental meetings, official engagements, or public functions.
The DIPR’s letter, addressed to secretaries and departmental heads, cited instances of unapproved releases that captured CM Sukhu in ways that, in their view, “portray inappropriate gestures” which could “potentially harm the public image of the chief minister.” The letter said that “unregulated dissemination of photographs” could impact both the chief minister’s and the government’s public perception.
The notice comes after the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on Saturday staged a “Samosa March” in Shimla, a satirical protest in response to an ongoing investigation involving the inadvertent serving of samosas originally intended for CM Sukhu to his security team.
The BJYM workers made their point by theatrically “feeding” a poster of the chief minister with samosas while chanting, “Sukhu ji ka samosa kisne khaya?” (“Who ate Sukhu ji’s samosa?”).
The controversy was stoked by an incident on October 21, when snacks meant for CM Sukhu were mistakenly served to his security staff during a visit to the CID headquarters. Reports suggesting that a CID inquiry had been launched to address the mix-up quickly gained attention.
Responding to the uproar, CM Sukhu played down the situation, attributing it to a minor “misbehaviour incident” and said that it was being blown out of proportion.