Tamil Nadu BJP mocked for using clip of Karti Chidambaram’s wife Srinidhi in election video
In a now-deleted tweet, the BJP used a clip of her dancing to ‘SemMozhi’, a song written by the late DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
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The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party was left red faced after it used a video clip of doctor and classical dancer Srinidhi Chidambaram, who is the wife of Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, in one of the campaign videos for the Assembly elections in the state. The tweet was deleted later, reported NDTV.
Srinidhi Chidambaram ridiculed the BJP for using her photograph for its tweet on Tuesday. “The lotus will never bloom in Tamil Nadu,” she said while responding to a screenshot of the video clip shared by a journalist on Twitter.
Ridiculous that the @bjp4india has used my image for their propaganda. தமிழகத்தில் தாமரை என்றும் மலராது. @BJP4India
— srinidhi chidambaram (@srinidhichid) March 30, 2021
The party had used a clip of Chidambaram dancing to SemMozhi, a song written by the late former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and composed by musician AR Rahman. While the footage of the dancer was only a few seconds long, the BJP used Chidambaram’s face as the cover picture of the campaign video, according to several screenshots of the tweet on social media.
The video, titled “Let Lotus Bloom, Let Tamil Nadu Grow”, was shared on Tamil Nadu BJP’s official Twitter handle on March 28. The five-minute clip comprised a montage of images meant to showcase the greatness of Tamil language and culture, and how it had flourished due to the saffron party, according to The Indian Express.
Nirmal, a member of BJP’s IT Cell, told NDTV that the error took place because of a vendor who took Chidambaram’s video clip from a government website.
The Congress mocked the BJP for the faux pas. “Dear Tamil Nadu BJP, we understand ‘consent’ is a difficult concept for you to understand but you cannot use Mrs Srinidhi Karti Chidambaram’s image without her permission,” the party wrote on Twitter. “All you’ve done is prove that your campaign is full of lies and propaganda.”
Dear @BJP4TamilNadu, we understand 'consent' is a difficult concept for you to understand, but you cannot use Mrs Srinidhi Karti Chidambaram's image without her permission. All you've done is prove that your campaign is full of lies & propaganda. pic.twitter.com/CTYSK9S9Qw
— Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (@INCTamilNadu) March 30, 2021
After the fake PM Awas Yojana Ad in West Bengal, BJP again uses a woman's picture without her consent for its propaganda in Tamil Nadu!
— Ruchira Chaturvedi (@RuchiraC) March 30, 2021
BJP = LIES https://t.co/aagm4F57O1