Cong upset with ads on Anand Sharma nomination

Advertisements by some Rajasthan-based trade organisations expressing “heartfelt gratitude” to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for nominating Commerce Minister Anand Sharma as a Rajya Sabha candidate from the state have “embarrassed” the party.

Advertisements by some Rajasthan-based trade organisations expressing “heartfelt gratitude” to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for nominating Commerce Minister Anand Sharma as a Rajya Sabha candidate from the state have “embarrassed” the party.

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Through these newspaper advertisements, as many as ten private associations also thanked Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief and Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi for the move.

“These ads are in bad taste and should have been avoided,” said a Congress functionary on the condition of anonymity.

“Such advertisements usually appear after a candidate wins the elections and not on being nominated as a party candidate. It appears that these private organisations have done it on their own,” he said.

Carrying photographs of Gandhi, Singh, Gehlot, Joshi and Anand, the ads exuded hope that Rajasthan would “greatly benefit and prosper” by Sharma’s selection. “This will provide a huge impetus for an accelerated growth in commerce and industry of Rajasthan,” said the advertisement.

Sharma said in Jaipur that he had read the advertisements and was “grateful to them all”.