An advertisement issued by the Railway Ministry publicising the free Monthly Season Tickets (MSTs) for students has raised a political storm with the CPM alleging that the graphics in the ad allude to the Trinamool Congress’s election symbol.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to “ensure that such advertisements are withdrawn and necessary instructions are issued to all government departments not to promote the partisan interests of any political party at the expense of public monies”.

Pointing out that the advertisement in question also carried the PM’s photograph, Yechury wrote, “I was aghast to see the graphics in the advertisement that are alluding to the election symbol of the Trinamool Congress. Surely you will agree that this is a brazen effort at utilising governmental funds for promoting the political interests of a particular party which happens to be a member of the ruling coalition under your leadership.”

The matter had the Railway Ministry on the backfoot. Going into a huddle for the major portion of the day, the Rail Bhavan finally came out with a face-saver on the matter late in the evening. Calling it a “misunderstanding”, the Ministry, in a statement, said, “The notion is misplaced and is, perhaps, more a flight of fancy on the part of those nursing this misunderstanding. This design is a work of art executed by an advertising agency of New Delhi working for the Indian Railways, which has actually visualised different communities and children as the shoots of a single family tree.” “The depiction of a twig of a plant with the faces of students embedded therein is actually meant to signify the fact that students are the saplings for the future of this nation and it is the moral duty of government to nurture these saplings in order to lay the foundation of a strong and vibrant India,” the statement said.