Tovino says his picture should not be used for campaigning

FORMER State Agriculture Minister and CPI candidate for the prestigious Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency VS Sunil Kumar on Monday suffered a jolt when the hugely-popular actor, Tovino Thomas, took to his social media page to point out that no one should use his picture for campaigning.

He wrote, “My best wishes to all the Lok Sabha candidates. I wish to hereby convey that I’m the ambassador for Kerala for the Election Commission’s SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation) program, and so it is against the law to use my photo or a photo including me for any kind of election campaigning. In case somebody is using it, I wish to clarify that it is without my knowledge or consent. Wishing everyone a fair election experience.”

Soon after Tovino Thomas’ post, Sunil Kumar deleted his picture with the actor from his social media account and admitted that he took the photo during a visit to the actor’s film shoot.

“I have removed the picture with the actor. I did not realise that the actor had an association with the Election Commission,” said Sunil Kumar.

Incidentally, Tovino Thomas hails from the Thrissur constituency.

Sunil Kumar is engaged in a triangular contest in Thrissur where he is taking on Congress veteran, K Muraleedharan and actor Suresh Gopi who contesting on a BJP ticket.