Faux Pas: Delhi BJP Uses Tamil Author Perumal Murugan's Face For Party's Slum Outreach Campaign

Writer Perumal Murugan, however, said he is 'delighted' at being featured on the poster since he is also from slums.

The poster (R) Perumal Murugan (Credit: ABP Nadu)

Chennai: The Delhi BJP appeared to have used the image of Tamil author Perumal Murugan on a poster for the party's slum outreach campaign. As part of the campaign, Jhuggi Samman Yatra, the Delhi BJP used the image of six people, including two children and four adults, one of them Perumal Murugan, showing them as slum dewellers.

While the poster was seen at a Delhi BJP event on Monday, it had been already in use for a Twitter campaign of the party and stuck across the capital. 

Asked about the faux pas, Delhi BJP vice president Rajan Tiwari told The Indian Express that he will check with the design team to know what happened.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader said that the posters are either outsourced or done by the IT team of BJP. However, he added, the makers should have used an original image from the previous rallies held by the party instead of any image without source.

Perumal Murugan, however, did not object to the BJP using his image. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said he was in fact "delighted" since he also belongs to slums. Murugan said he was happy to be featured along with the others. 

Perumal Murugan is a Tamil author who has penned 10 novels and several short stories and poems. In December 2014, his book "One part woman" ran into a controversy over a ritual mentioned in it. The book talked about a woman having extramarital sex during Ardhanarishvara festival to bear a child, which did not go down well with the people who worship the deity.