NEW DELHI: : The Congress on Thursday withdrew the latest issue of its mouthpiece, Congress Sandesh, after party leaders realised that the magazine had three photographs of former minister of state Akhilesh Das, who has since joined the BSP as its general secretary.

The photographs showed Das with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In fact, the magazine cover itself had Das sitting near Sonia at a party convention in Kanpur.

However, party leaders maintained that they had not withdrawn the mouthpiece, claiming that the latest issue had not been released yet. They said the issue would be released in a few days. But a copy of the magazine, with Das’s photographs, is with The Indian Express.

All the three photographs (on the cover, page 5 and page 7) are from the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee convention held in Kanpur in March. The convention was addressed by both Sonia and Rahul. Congress leaders said the magazine was not released publicly, although it had been published. They said the matter of “re-doing” the magazine was being discussed with the printers.