Big B, brand ambassador for traffic! Minister invites ire

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Satej Patil's letter to Amitabh Bachchan asking him to be the state brand ambassador for traffic safety has drawn the ire of his fellow party legislator.

The minister's invite to Bachchan comes in the backdrop of the recent accident on the Mumbai-Pune highway that killed 28 members of a wedding party.

Member of Legislative Council and vice-president of the Mumbai Congress, Charan Singh Sapra, in a letter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, said the state should have a younger brand ambassador, instead of Bachchan.

"I have sent a letter to Chavan. I also spoke to Patil and told him the plan to rope in Bachchan was not alright," Sapra told PTI in Mumbai. "Why not have a younger face like Sachin Tendulkar," he said.

"The minister informed me that he had only written to Bachchan and a final decision would be taken by Chavan," Sapra said.

Sapra suggested that younger celebrities like Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan would strike a chord with youngsters. "Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Gujarat, whose Chief Minister Narendra Modi's role in the 2002 riots is well known," Sapra said.

In 2010, the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan faced brickbats within the party after he attended the inauguration of the Bandra- Worli Sea link where Bachchan was also a special guest.

Chavan later defended himself saying he had no clue about Bachchan attending the function as the invite for the event was sent by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation which was with ally Nationalist Congress Party.