MP Vijay Darda solicits ads on his official letterhead

'There is nothing illegal about these letters and I am not trying to use any political clout,' he says

Vijay Darda, Congress member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha, who was recently in the news in connection with the coal block allocation scam, appears to be using his position for more than just Parliamentary work.

Darda has been using his official letterhead, which has his name and the national emblem, to secure advertisements from companies for the Diwali issue of the publications of the Lokmat Media group, of which he is the chairman.

According to the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005, “No person shall use the emblem for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession or in the title of any patent, or in any trademark or design, except in such cases and under such conditions as may be prescribed.”

 

Darda’s letter has the subject “Diwali special issues” and states Darda is a member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chairman, Lokmat Media. It also lists the various parliamentary committees and standing committees of which he is a member. In the letter, Darda describes the Lokmat group’s annual Diwali publications Deepotsav and Deepbhav as “premium products for the elite and exclusive class of Marathi readers”.

He adds “popular brands” that “regularly” advertise in these issues include “Bajaj, YES Bank, Videocon, Hero Cycles Raymonds, Liberty, Jet Airways, Reliance, etc”.

“With the circulation of more than two lakh copies, each of these volumes are a boom for advertisers, as these are cost-effective mediums to catch the potential consumers in their spirit of festivity,” he adds.

Ads for the special issues of these volumes, as well as Lokmat (Marathi) and Lokmat Samachar (Hindi) “inside double-spread colour” ads are priced at Rs 2,70,000.

When contacted, Vijay Darda told Business Standard, “The letters regarding the Diwali issue you have mentioned are not sent to everybody, only to a select few friends of mine. I have been sending such letters since several years. If you see, there is a proper Lokmat logo at the bottom, and the letterhead clearly states I am also chairman of the Lokmat Media Group. All the details about the cost of the ads are there, and it is completely transparent. There is nothing illegal about these letters. I am not trying to use any political clout, and there is no element of threat, extortion or quid pro quo in it.”

Kishore Chandra Deo, tribal affairs mnister and former chairman of the privileges committee of the Lok Sabha, told Business Standard, “It amounts to an act of gross impropriety, unbecoming of an MP. It is misuse of power and position to get monetary benefit for one’s own company.”

On the norms of using official MP letterheads, Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar told Business Standard, “The official letterhead is to be used for government work and for the common man’s betterment.” She added usually, MPs used the letterhead while carrying out official tasks such as writing letters to ministries and government agencies and distributing funds through the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.