Bengaluru: A fresh controversy erupted in Karnataka on the occasion of India’s 76th Independence Day after the ruling BJP dropped Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru`s image from the government advertisement on the country's iconic freedom fighters. As if this was not enough, Karnataka BJP State General Secretary and MLC Ravikumar on Monday further added fuel to fire by saying that it was done "deliberately" as the first Prime Minister of India was responsible for the partition.


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Speaking to the reporters, MLC Ravikumar said, "Dropping Nehru`s image in the advertisement was deliberate. Gandhiji had said that Congress should be dissolved after independence. However, Nehru did not dissolve the Congress. Due to all these reasons, we have dropped his picture from the advertisement."


"Nehru did not listen to Gandhiji and it caused the partition of the country. Therefore, his portrait has been intentionally left out in the government advertisement," the BJP State General Secretary said on Sunday.


"During his reign, Tipu Sultan destroyed many temples and converted millions of people. Why did Congress put up anti-Hindu Tipu`s portrait?" questioned the Karnataka MLC.


Siddaramaiah is Sonia Gandhi’s ''puppet"


 


The Karnataka BJP leader even called former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah a "puppet" of Sonia Gandhi. "Siddaramaiah is a puppet of Sonia Gandhi to get power. Sonia and Rahul tell him to sit down means sit down for him, stand up means stand up, and embrace means embrace," said Ravikumar while criticising DK Shivakumar for embracing Siddaramaiah during Rahul Gandhi`s recent Karnataka visit.


His reaction came after Congress Leader Siddaramaiah demanded an apology from the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Somappa Bommai, for "insulting" the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.


Siddaramaiah also tweeted," When we thought slavery ended with the British, @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai proved everyone wrong by showing that he is still a slave to @RSSorg. Not including #PanditJawaharlalNehru in the list of freedom fighters in today`s govt ad shows how low a CM can go to save his chair."


 



 


In another tweet, the Congress leader said, "Savarkar, who pleaded with British officers to get himself released from the jail, gets position in the front row. But, Baba Saheb, who fought for freedom by being the voice of marginalized sections, gets placed in the last row. The blatant display of untouchability by @BJP4Karnataka. Sad." 


He was reacting to BJP MLA and former state minister KS Eshwarappa's statement welcoming the government's decision of omitting Nehru's name from the list paying tribute for their pivotal role in the freedom struggle as the country marks 75 years of independence.


"Dropping Nehru's name from the list of freedom fighters is not an insult to Nehru but to the entire country and the freedom struggle. More than that, they (BJP) are insulting themselves, which they must realise," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru.


Speaking to reporters on Sunday, state minister KS Eshwarappa said, "It is a matter of pleasure if Nehru's photograph was removed intentionally. I welcome it. What should we do to the person who divided the country? Who is the model for the country? The role model for the youth of the nation is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Dr B R Ambedkar, 'Swatantra Veer' Savarkar and Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, not Nehru."


Congress demands apology


 


Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar demanded an apology from the Karnataka government for ignoring former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the state government`s advertisement for the `Har Ghar Tiranga` campaign. In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Shivakumar said, "You insulted Jawaharlal Nehru, the frontline fighter of the freedom struggle, the first Prime Minister of the country, the architect of the post-independence New India construction, in the government advertisement published in the newspapers on Sunday. You have made an unsuccessful attempt to distort history."


Earlier, the Congress leaders had expressed concern over the issue of the disappearance of the portrait of the first Prime Minister Nehru and the tearing down of the portrait of Tipu Sultan in Bengaluru in connection with the `Har Ghar Tiranga` campaign. 


However, the ruling BJP finally acknowledged the contributions of first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru towards the freedom struggle on the occasion of the celebration of Independence Day on Monday. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai while giving his key-note address at the Manekshaw Parade Grounds in Bengaluru stated, "It is our first duty to pay respect to the towering personalities who fought to liberate this country from foreign occupational forces.


"Innumerable people have made sacrifices and martyred their lives for the Independent struggle. Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Bhagat Singh, Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru and other great personalities are historical," CM Bommai said.