Cong leaders spread lie on Hindutva icon Savarkar to remove his portrait from K’taka Assembly.

Congress leader Priyank Kharge Seeks Removal Of Hindutva Ideologue Savarkar’s Portrait From Karnataka Assembly.

No Plans To Remove Savarkar Portrait From Assembly: Karnataka Speaker.

B Upendran | HENB  | Bengaluru  | Dec 8, 2023:: The anti-Hindutva and anti-Hindutva stands of Congress are surfaced again. Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge on Thursday strongly opined that the portrait of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar should not be there inside the state assembly amid the speculation that the photograph will be taken down.

“I am of the strong opinion that Savarkar’s photo should not be there in the Assembly or in the Counsel,” said the minister while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

“If BJP has a problem with it, it is their problem. It is my opinion that anybody whose ideology incites hatred, creates division should not be there, Savarkar’s portrait should not be there,” he added.

Moreover,  Kharge floated a new controversy that Savarkar was the Father of ‘Two Nation Theory’ when history says the Ali brothers (Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali) of Aligarh University Movement propounded the two nation theory under the divide and rule policy of the Britishers which was popularized by Mohammad Ali Jinnah among the Muslims through his communal politics in Muslim league.

A life-size portrait of Savarkar was unveiled in December, 2022 inside the Karnataka Assembly chamber at the ‘Suvarna Vidhana Soudha’, along with several national icons during the previous dipensation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The move had drawn flak from Congress back then who alleging that the party was kept in the dark.

At that time, the Congress led by Mr Siddaramaiah, who was then the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and party’s state president D K Shivakumar staged a demonstration outside ‘Suvarna Vidhana Soudha’ holding pictures of several top national and state figures like Kuvempu, Narayana Guru, Shishunala Sharif, Nehru, and Babu Jagjeevan Ram.

Speculations are now rife that the portrait will be taken down from the assembly chamber while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that the decision will be taken by the Speaker.

But, Karnataka Speaker UT Khader on Thursday said there is no proposal to remove the life size portrait of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar from the Assembly chamber here.

Speaking to reporters in Belagavi, he said that he will go by the Constitution, amid speculations that Savarkar’s portrait that was unveiled during the previous BJP regime at ‘Suvarna Vidhana Soudha’ will be removed.

Asked as to what he would do if such a proposal comes, he said, “let it come first…” Mr Khader on Sunday said the proposal to install the portrait of first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru inside the Assembly chamber, will be discussed.

Meanwhile, Minister Priyank Kharge said that, if allowed, he would remove Savarkar’s portrait.

While some leaders backed Priyank Kharge’s remarks, it didn’t go well with several BJP leaders, who soon targeted him over his statements against Savarkar.

Responding to Kharge’s statement, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Bharath Shetty said, “Priyank Kharge is ill-informed. He thinks he is one of the most educated people, but he is the most uneducated person in the assembly. If he tries to do so (remove Savarkar’s photo), protests will not only break inside the assembly but also outside.”

State BJP lashed out Congress’ proposal to remove Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar reminding them his huge contribution for the Indian Freedom Struggle against the British rule for which Savarkar was put in imprisonment and house arrest over 25 years in Andaman  and Ratnagiri.

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had released a commemorative postal stamps in 1970  to honor the Legendry of Freedom Struggle Movement and a Social Reformer, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. in a backdrop of Andaman Cellular Jail where he was put in a rigorous imprisonment by the British rulers for more than a decade.

The anti-national and half-literate Congress leader like Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah or Priaynk Kharge do not know that Savarkar was the longest imprisoned freedom fighter having spent 11 years in Cellular Jail Andaman, 3 years in Ratnagiri prison and the next 13 years in house arrest at Ratnagiri thus totaling 27 years in captivity which no other freedom fighter spent.Rumours spread by Congress that Savarkar was a British stooge is a blatant lie.

__Inputs from Agencies.