Priyanka’s cleavage on Assam Tourism calendar sparks row, Congress leaders furious

Guwahati: After sparking row for calling Sikkim a state ‘troubled by insurgency’ Priyanka Chopra has become a part of another controversy in a North-Eastern state.

Priyanka, who is the brand ambassador for Assam Tourism, has landed in a controversy for a recently launched calendar featuring her, with the issue getting discussed in the state assembly.

Members of the Congress party have stated that Priyanka is seen wearing ‘minimal clothes’ and hence brought a bad name to culture of Assam and want her removed as the brand ambassador.

Boko MLA Nandita Das  and another MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi were among those expressing their displeasure in the house.

“The government should preserve the respect of the Assamese society. Frock is not an Assamese attire and the calendar pictures were not sober at all. The government should have known how to preserve the prestige of the Assamese society, instead they could have used the traditional mekhela sador. This is the reason we have protested against the calendar,” Kurmi told the portal TIME8.

The MLA added, “There are a lot of talented Assamese actors, the government should look into this and accordingly appoint one.”

Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), however, does not see anything wrong with the calendar.

“The calendar was made to promote Assam internationally. It has also been sent to prominent international tour operators and dignitaries," Jayanta Malla Baruah, Chairman of Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) told G Plus, a Guwahati-based weekly.

He added, “Priyanka Chopra is an international figure and her presentation in the calendar has not diminished Assam’s culture in any way." He also asked if Priyanka Gandhi's picture should have been used instead of the actress.

Priyanka was recently dragged to the Nirav Modi fraud courtesy an advertisment she shot for his brand few months ago, and the actress seems to have become controversy's favourite child.