Mangaluru, 13 Jun 2017: B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, Mangaluru City North MLA, landed into a controversy after distributing notebooks on the occasion of his Birthday with his pictures prominently displayed.
The front cover of the notebooks says it is a gift from Mr. Bava. The inside pages have photographs of the MLA’s visit to different schools and his interaction with students. The back cover has an advertisement of the Prestige Group, which is the partner in several real estate projects of Mr. Bava’s younger brother B.M. Farooq’s Fiza Group.
“We were called for a function at a school on Saturday, where the formal distribution of books was done. We distributed notebooks to 100 students of our school on Monday,” said a teacher from a government secondary school in Katipalla.
DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla termed the move “a cheap election gimmick”.
Reacting to the allegations, Bava said “There is no political motive here. There are no party symbols in the books. Only a few pictures related to cycle distribution to children have been printed. Every child from Class 1 to III got three books each and Class IV to PUC got six books each,” he said.
On allegations that he had requested students not to cover the books, the MLA clarified, “The books are of very good quality and they may not require binding,” he said.
“The whole intention of having my picture on books is to ensure that they are not sold in shops and misused. What is wrong if there is a picture of the MLA whom the people have elected,” he asked.