If a picture is worth a thousand words, a collection of 48 must surely be a treasure trove of literature, right?
Not quite, it seems. Not at least for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is upset that the Bharatiya Janata Party's vision document -- a list of its achievements and a declaration of its intent -- released recently has been indiscriminately plastered with his pictures. Over 50 of them!
When BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu and party general secretary Pramod Mahajan showed Vajpayee the book, the last thing they had expected was a reprimand. But that's what they got.
"Mere itne photographs kyon? Panch ya cheh hone chahiye... " (why so many pictures of mine...five or six would have sufficed) was the prime minister's first question as he leafed through the book.
Mahajan tried to put it away lightly by saying that the same number were used earlier and only a few more had been added. To which Vajpayee said: "At least you should have sent this for my approval."
rediff.com acquired a copy of the vision document -- a 48 page glossy. Vajpayee's pictures are good -- a mix of images from his younger days to his days as the country's prime minister. But sure, there are far too many of them.
But don't take our word for it. Take a look yourself...