NEW DELHI // Ever since prime minister Narendra Modi wielded a broom to launch his Clean India campaign last month, high-profile figures have been falling over themselves to be photographed sweeping the streets.
But for one hapless politician, the move backfired after a worker was photographed scattering leaves just so he could pose sweeping them up.
The images exposing Satish Upadhyay, a New Delhi leader of Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), went viral after they were published by the Mail Today newspaper this week.
By Friday morning, #CheatingCleanIndia was trending as India’s most used hashtag as Twitter users rushed to condemn the photo opportunity.
“Just when I thought something good is finally happening since the new government, you see hypocrite leaders,” posted Suraj Bajaj.
Mr Modi launched his campaign on October 2, exhorting ministers and civil servants in the status-conscious country to take part in a mass clean-up of government buildings.
Since then dozens of politicians, movie stars and industrialists, including actor Salman Khan and business tycoon Anil Ambani, have got in on the act.
Mr Upadhyay defended himself, saying he had been invited to a clean-up event and blaming the organisers.
“Whoever has done it, it hasn’t been done right,” he said.
“The campaign launched by the PM Modi is not just for photo-ops.”
* Agence France-Presse
