Kharge says PM selfie booths at railway stations brazen waste of taxpayers' money, calls it 'self-obsessed promotion'

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said setting up 'selfie booths' at railway stations with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a 'brazen waste' of taxpayers' money while opposition states await MGNREGA funds.

In a post on X, Kharge said, 'Self-obsessed promotion by Modi govt knows NO bounds!' 'Absolutely brazen waste of taxpayers money by installing Modiji's 3D selfie points at railway stations,' he added.

The Congress chief alleged that earlier, the blood and sacrifice of the country's brave soldiers were politically used by ordering the armed forces to install 822 such selfie points with prominent cut-outs of the prime minister.

'Modi govt hasn't provided drought and flood relief to states. MGNREGA funds for opposition ruled states are also pending. But it has the audacity to generously splurge public money on these cheap election stunts!' he said.

Kharge also shared a copy of a reply obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which listed the stations under the Central Railway where temporary and permanent selfie booths have been installed.

According to the RTI reply, the approved cost for the temporary selfie booths for category 'A' stations is Rs 1.25 lakh each, whereas the permanent selfie booths for category 'C' stations have an installation cost of Rs 6.25 lakh each.