BAREILLY: The sale of kites bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of Makar Sakranti in the city has come under the scanner of the district administration which has launched a drive to seize such kites. Teams have been sent to different parts of the city to seize the kites with pictures of politicians. FIRs will be launched against those who sell such kites or are caught flying them.The district election officer told TOI that printing pictures of PM Modi on kites amounts to violation of model code of conduct and nobody will be allowed to fly them. However, the kites with Modi picture are selling like hot cakes in the city.A prominent wholesaler of kites, Inam Ali, said, "Kites bearing photographs of PM Modi are selling the most for Makar Sakranti. I have sold nearly 8,000 such kites on Friday. Though we have kites bearing images of other celebrities, including actors Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Hritik Roshan, kites with Modi's pictures along with caption saying 'Safaigiri' are most popular." He added that sellers had received kites bearing PM Modi's pictures nearly a month ago back and their sale had gone up this week due to Makar Sakranti, which is on Saturday.Another shopkeeper, Hakim Baig, who claimed to have sold 2,000 kites with Modi pictures, in the last two days, said, "When PM Modi had visited Bareilly before Lok Sabha elections, he had said that kites of Gujarat cannot fly without a manjha (kite-string) of Bareilly. Kites bearing pictures of him are a hit since his visit to the city but their demand has recently shot up."Kite sellers in the city claimed that Modi kites bear a message of cleanliness due to his much-hyped Swacch Bharat Mission and it has nothing to do with any political party. However, the district administration claimed that such kites are a violation of the model code of conduct.Speaking with TOI, district magistrate or district election officer Pankaj Yadav said, "Kites bearing picture of any politician or symbol of any political party is a violation of model code of conduct. I have set up teams which will conduct random inspections and an FIR will be lodged if anyone is found using such kites. FIRs will be registered against both manufacturers and those who fly kites bearing images of politicians."

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