PM's Photo Won't Be On Vaccine Certificates In 5 States Going To Polls: Sources

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph has been taken off vaccine certificates in five states where elections will be held next month, sources have said. Official sources said filters have been applied on the CoWIN platform to exclude PM Modi's photo in the five states as the model code of conduct came into into force.

A similar move was made during a string of state elections held in April-May last year after complaints from various opposition parties.

The Congress alleged that the vaccination process is being used as a means for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "personal publicity" rather than a tool to save people's lives.

At the time, Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had launched the "Zimmidaar Kaun (Who is responsible)"campaign, targeting the BJP government over the vaccination programme.

Given India's history of vaccine production and the vastness of its vaccine programmes, it is easy to believe that the government would do this work in a better way, Ms Gandhi Vadra had said.

"But the bitter truth is that from the beginning of the pandemic, vaccines in India became a tool for the Prime Minister's personal publicity rather than a tool to save the lives of the common people," the Congress leader alleged.

"As a result, India, the world's largest vaccine producer, has today become dependent on vaccine donations from other countries and has joined the ranks of the world's weakest countries in terms of vaccination."

Last month, the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition challenging PM Modi's photograph on vaccination certificates.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner, saying "Why are you ashamed of our Prime Minister... The petition seems to be filed with political motives and a publicity motivated petition. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed with a heavy cost".