When Right to Information activist
Ajay Bose saw ration bags with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on them being distributed to the poor on social media, he was intrigued.
Never in the history of Independent India were images of any prime minister printed on ration bags, he realised, and that this was being done at a time when general elections were a few weeks away and the Election Commission could announce the Model Code of Conduct any time.
Bose then decided to file an RTI petition asking the Food Corporation of India how much it cost to print Modi's image on ration bags meant for distribution under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY).
He soon got a reply from Rajasthan, and other states too started sending trickles of information, and he was startled to see the amount.
Bose tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com why he filed his RTI petition.