Mumbai: Congress workers Tuesday protested outside the office of a beverage company in Mumbai taking offence to a recent advertisement of the company that allegedly mocks Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.
Functionaries and party workers from the Mumbai Congress and Mumbai Youth Congress allegedly created a ruckus at the office of Storia Foods & Beverages and raised slogans against the company.
The Mumbai Congress in a statement accepted to have “vandalised” the premises of the company.
The Mumbai Police stationed itself at the spot to monitor the situation.
The Congress unit’s press statement said, “Storia Foods company has made an advertisement in which they have shown defamatory images of Congress leader and former president Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Congress President Sonia Gandhi. To condemn this, on the directions of Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap, general secretary Nitin Sawant and Mumbai Youth Congress leaders vandalised the office of Storia Foods at Mumbai in Andheri East.”
प्रेस नोट – 27/04/21
Press Note – 27/04/21 pic.twitter.com/lFvPOTEZoi— Mumbai Congress (@INCMumbai) April 27, 2021
After the incident, Jagtap tweeted, “Congratulations and appreciation to Mumbai Congress General Secretary Nitin Sawant and Youth Congress workers for responding to the defamation of Revered Soniaji Gandhi and Revered Rahul ji Gandhi by STORIA Company through advertisements. It should be noted that such dirty trades will not be tolerated.”
आदरणीय सोनियाजी गांधी व आदरणीय राहुलजी गांधी यांची STORIA कंपनीने जाहिराती मधून केलेल्या बदनामीला चोख उत्तर दिल्याबद्दल मुंबई काँग्रेस सरचिटणीस नितीन सावंत तसेच युथ काँग्रेसच्या कार्यकर्त्यांचे अभिनंदन व कौतुक !!
असले घाणेरडे धंदे खपवून घेतले जाणार नाहीत याची नोंद घ्यावी!! ☝️ pic.twitter.com/e68iUXwrZG
— Bhai Jagtap – भाई जगताप (@BhaiJagtap1) April 27, 2021
In the statement, Jagtap was quoted as saying, “This advertisement should be immediately banned and Storia Foods should publicly apologise. Otherwise, the Mumbai Congress will stage an even bigger agitation. We will ensure that the Storia Foods office is shut.”
The protests come at a time when the state is under a lockdown to contain the spread of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mumbai has so far recorded 6,31,527 Covid positive cases and is currently dealing with an active caseload of 70,373 cases as of 26 April.
The advertisement
Storia Foods is a Mumbai-based company that was launched in 2016. The firm manufactures natural and healthy shakes and juices. The contact number listed for the company was switched off when ThePrint tried to contact them.
The company Monday launched its new advertising series, parodying current events, featuring actor and comedian Sanket Bhosale.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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