Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s decision to become brand ambassador for Gujarat Tourism has not gone down well with the Congress, the party he had once represented from Allahabad as a Lok Sabha MP.
"Big B should not misuse his celebrity status and become the brand ambassador for the vested interests,” said Rajeev Shukla, AICC secretary and coordinator for Gujarat, adding that State Governments were not corporate entities that required a brand ambassador for image improvement.
“Celebrities should shy away from it, as it gives a poor impression,” Shukla said, recalling that Bachchan had earlier been a brand ambassador for Uttar Pradesh which had “bought electoral disaster” for the state’s the then ruling Samajwadi Party. “Only time will tell what will happen to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.”
AICC secretary in-charge of Gujarat P Sudhakar Reddy said the move was nothing more than an attempt to cash in on the goodwill of the actor.
After having a special screening of his film Paa for Modi last month, both the CM and Amitabh emerged great fans of each other. While Bachchan accepted Modi’s invitation to work as the “brand ambassador of Gujarat”, the state exempted the film from entertainment and other taxes.
