Belgavi: The first day of the Winter Session of the Karnataka Assembly began at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. The first day started with a controversy when Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai unveiled a portrait of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar inside Karnataka Assembly Hall.
Congress leaders, including Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, sat outside the Assembly to mark their protest.
Bommai also unveiled the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Dr B R Ambedkar, social reformer Basavanna, Subhash Chandra Bose, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Speaking to the media, Shivakumar said it was just a tactic of the BJP to divert attention from the real issues. “I got a call from the Speaker’s office they were unveiling Dr B R Ambedkar’s photo in the assembly hall. But I came to know about the Savarkar photo being installed in the hall through the media. Savarkar is neither related to Karnataka nor to Indian politics. He is a controversial figure. Let the BJP install photos of Jawaharlal Nehru, social reformers Narayana Guru, Kanakadasa and Basavanna, we demand them to do so,” he said.
Karnataka Govt. decision to honour Savarkar: A Collaborator of the British Rulers and Muslim League
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah called the decision to install Savarkar’s portrait unilateral and said it was done without any information. He added, “If any portrait is being installed, the entire House must be taken into confidence or at least it needs to be discussed with the business advisory committee. I am not against Savarkar’s photo being installed but I would demand the government to install photos of other national leaders and social reformers”.
While Congress staged a protest against the Savarkar portrait, BJP General Secretary N Ravi Kumar told the media about the letter written by former prime minister Indira Gandhi where she had mentioned that Savarkar was a ‘remarkable son of India’ and lauded his efforts against fighting the British.
