Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, came under fire online for endorsing a "problematic" campaign on road safety that included Akshay Kumar.
In an effort to support the government's campaign to promote six airbags in cars, the Union Minister shared the video on his Twitter account on Friday. The advertising received criticism online for supposedly supporting the dowry practise.
In the aforementioned advertisement, a father was seen sobbing as he said goodbye to his daughter following her marriage. The grieving father is seen next to Akshay Kumar, who is portraying a policeman, as he mocks him for putting the bride and groom in a vehicle with only two airbags as opposed to six.
Taking to Twitter, Union Minister stated: "Make life safer by travelling in a vehicle with 6 airbags."
Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha member for the Shiv Sena, criticised the advertising by quoting Gadkari's tweet and questioned whether the government was spending money to promote dowry or automobile safety.
"This is such a problematic advertisement. Who passes such creatives? Is the government spending money to promote the safety aspect of a car or promoting the evil& criminal act of dowry through this ad?" she tweeted.
Saket Gokhale, the TMC's national spokesperson, also responded to the commercial by calling it "disgusting to see the Indian government publicly supporting dowry."
On the other hand, Gadkari, earlier on Friday, hailed Kumar for his support to the countrywide National Road Safety Campaign, adding the actor's 'efforts in spreading the awareness on road safety concerns are very laudable.'
"We're committed to bringing down road accidents in India with awareness and public participation," Gadkari wrote on Twitter.