Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over plans to install ‘Sengol’ scepter –a historic Tamil artifact signifying transfer of power between kings or rulers –in the new Parliament building to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said the use of ‘Sengol’ indicated that the party had “accepted” defeat and planned to hand over power –a reference to next year’s general election, when the BJP will bid for an unprecedented third successive term.
Akhilesh Yadav endorsed the Congress stand on this issue and questioned the BJP’s claims about the ‘Sengol’ and criticised it for “consecrating the new Parliament and attempting to perpetuate false narratives”.
“The ‘Sengol’ is a symbol of transfer of power (from one hand to another)… The BJP seems to have accepted that the time has come to hand over power,” Yadav tweeted amid a row over the scepter and the decision to have Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the building instead of President Droupadi Murmu.
“There is no documented evidence whatsoever of Mountbatten, Rajaji and Nehru describing this scepter as a symbol of transfer of British power to India. All claims to this effect are simply bogus. Wholly and completely manufactured in the minds of a few and dispersed into WhatsApp,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
The BJP hit back through Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party boss JP Nadda. Shah accused the Congress of hating Indian civilisation and its ancient traditions. “Why does the Congress party hate Indian traditions and culture so much?” he said.
“A sacred Sengol was given to Pandit Nehru by a holy Saivite Mutt from Tamil Nadu to symbolise India’s freedom but it was banished to a museum as a ‘walking stick’,” the home minister tweeted.
“Now, Congress has heaped another shameful insult. The Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, a holy Saivite Mutt, itself spoke about the importance of the ‘Sengol’ at the time of India’s freedom. Congress is calling the Adheenam’s history as bogus! Congress needs to reflect on their behavior,” Shah said.
Apart from the ‘Sengol’ row, the decision to have Modi inaugurate the new Parliament building has also prompted a furious pushback from the opposition and nearly two dozen, including the SP and the Congress. The SP was one of 19 opposition outfits that issued a statement this week confirming they will all stay away from the inauguration.
