NEW DELHI: After many airlines were sucked into controversy by getting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s photographs printed on its boarding passes, GoAir withdrew its boarding passes with the photographs. The airline had taken a "cue from the Election Code of Conduct", a GoAir spokesperson said, adding that its team in Srinagar inadvertently used the unused stock of "Vibrant Gujarat" paper.

“GoAir's Srinagar Airport team inadvertently utilized unused stock of Vibrant Gujarat related paper which took place in January 18-20, 2019 for issuing boarding passes at the said airport. It was unintentional. Taking cue from the Election Code of Conduct we have instructed our airport teams to stop utilizing this type of paper with immediate effect,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The airline had earlier said the passes, featuring the photographs which were third-party advertisements, would be withdrawn if they are found to be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The picture garnered much attention after former Punjab DGP Shashi Kant on Monday tweeted a photograph of his boarding pass issued at the New Delhi airport, questioning how pictures of the two leaders could be on it.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also tweeted on that he was on a GoAir flight on Sunday and it "also had a similar boarding pass with the PM's photo on it".

An Air India spokesperson said on Monday that the boarding passes were printed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit held in January this year and the photographs were part of the advertisement from 'third parties'.

This comes a week after photos of the prime minister were withdrawn by the railways after the Trinamool Congress complained to the Election Commission about them.

The railways also cited the same explanation that it was a third-party ad and leftover from a pack of tickets printed a year earlier. The national transporter had instructed zones to withdraw the tickets.

(agency inputs)