Hindutva ideologue VK Savarkar’s portrait was unveiled inside the Assembly chamber at the ‘Suvarna Vidhana Soudha’ here, drawing criticism from the Opposition Congress, which alleged that it was a unilateral decision, keeping them in the dark.
The portraits of Swami Vivekananda, Subhas Chandra Bose, BR Ambedkar, Basaveshwara, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Savarkar were unveiled by Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, inside the Assembly chamber, just before the commencement of the 10-day Winter Session of the State Legislature in this border district.
Earlier, Congress led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and party’s State president DK Shivakumar staged a demonstration outside the Assembly.
They protested while holding pictures of several national and state icons like Kuvempu, Narayana Guru, Shishunala Sharif, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Babu Jagjivan Ram among others.
Stating that it is his party’s demand that portraits of national leaders and social reformers should be installed in the Assembly and they are not protesting against any one portrait, Siddaramaiah said, without any discussions or consultation unilaterally decisions have been taken to install certain portraits inside the
House.
"If any portrait has to be put inside the Assembly, the House has to be taken into confidence as they become the property of the Assembly, though the Speaker is the custodian. It has not been done, it was not even discussed in the Business Advisory Committee," he said. Noting that he neither had invitation nor any information regarding the unveiling of the portraits including that of Savarkar, and only got to know about it through the media, Siddaramaiah said, "We are not opposed to installing any portraits, but Assembly had to be taken into confidence."
Suggesting that portraits of Nehru, Patel, Jagjivan Ram, and social reformers have to be installed and it is their demand, he said, "they (BJP government) are now doing it because we (Congress) will raise several issues like corruption, voter ID card scam, farmers issues, law and order, also several scams. In order to divert the attention of the people they are doing this unilaterally. We oppose this."
Reacting to the Congress’ protest, Chief Minister Bommai said, "Whatever happens inside the Assembly is left to the Speaker and the Legislature Department, I’m yet to meet the Speaker, I will talk to him."
Calling ‘BJP’s Hinduism a drama,’ Karnataka Congress unit president D K Shivakumar on Monday asserted that the Hinduism practised by him and others in the party was better than that practised by the ruling party.
The KPCC chief, however, said what Congress propagates is the Constitution.
