Piyush Goyal Apologises For Using Stock Photo To Highlight Govt's LED Lighting Achievement

Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with independent charge for power, coal, energy and mines shared a tweet on August 20th that talked about the achievement of the government's Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP).

The tweet said that the government has illuminated 50,000 km of Indian roads by retrofitting 30 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights.

While the achievement in itself is praiseworthy, there was one problem. The tweet was accompanied with a picture that looked suspect.

While several Twitter users claimed the image to be from Russia, a simple Google search shows that this image has been used by several websites including from Pakistan, claiming installation of LED lights.

SM Hoax Slayer, a Twitter handle that calls out fake images on social media pointed it out to the minister, following which another user pointed out how the BJP has used a wrong image in the past as well

Great work sir. But a small request when it's already done, pls use real photos. This is decade old used by many manufacturers & countries https://t.co/LY5BoQCG5A

— SM Hoax Slayer (@SMHoaxSlayer) August 20, 2017

After replacing LED lights in Canada, now BJP has replaced LED Lights in Russia. Massive respect for BJP and @PiyushGoyal pic.twitter.com/XyemXjrIVZ

— Joy (@Joydas) August 20, 2017

While in the past, BJP members have either quietly deleted their tweets or refused to apologise, this time Piyush Goyal acknowledged his mistake and deleted his tweet.

Govt. has illuminated 50,000 KM of Indian roads by retrofitting 30 lakh conventional street lights with LED lights. pic.twitter.com/awvQjmCPUg

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 21, 2017

Thanks to many who pointed issues with earlier image. While we illuminate streets, social media helps illuminate facts, helping us improve.

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 21, 2017

It cannot be denied that BJP ministers and spokespersons are very social media savvy but have also faced flak for wrong images and posts on social media.

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