No ads on first UPA anniversary, PM tells all depts

The UPA seems to have learnt a lesson or two from the A.B. Vajpayee government’s ‘‘India Shining’’ campaign, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has specifically asked all departments not to release any advertisements when his government completes a year in office on May 22.

‘‘We have specifically asked all the departments not to release even simple advertisements that have photographs of Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister, and the minister concerned,’’ said Prithviraj Chavan, a Minister of State in the PMO. ‘‘We will celebrate our first year in power in a very simple manner,’’ Chavan said, adding that the government has decided to celebrate the event by organising various functions over a period of 10 days.

The Minister added that all the UPA constituents will brainstorm for a day to review the performance of the government, while the Left parties will have a separate conclave for the same purpose. He said the government has already set up various committees to implement the Common Minimum Programme.

Blaming the BJP for stalling Parliament proceedings, Chavan said several legislations were pending as meetings of parliamentary committees were not taking place.

He said the PM has called a meeting on Thursday to review the power crisis in Maharashtra. Apart from Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the meeting will be attended by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar too.