New Delhi: The ruling BJP has slammed the Congress leaders for using Jawaharlal Nehru’s picture holding the national flag in their social media profiles, saying Rahul Gandhi should look outside his family and allow party members to use their photo with the Tricolour.


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Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "I believe there should not be dynastic politics in every issue... They have displayed the picture of their leader who was the country's first prime minister. The tricolour belongs to the poorest of the poor and to 135 crore Indians."


 



 


"Anyone can hold the Tricolour and put it in their DP (display picture)... His (Gandhi's) family has been in politics from the beginning. I feel Rahul Gandhi should give others a chance. It will be very good if his party workers display their picture with tricolour," Patra continued.


 



 


He, however, added, "At least the tricolour is coming up". The country is honoured when an ordinary person, the last person in the queue, holds the national flag high and lauds the nation, he said.


Patra also cited the election of Droupadi Murmu as the country's first tribal President in this context. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several BJP leaders made the tricolour their profile picture on social media, Congress leaders and the party's official handles put a photograph of Nehru with the tricolour as their display picture on Twitter and other platforms.


In the press conference, the BJP spokesperson asked all parties, including those in the opposition, to join the government's 'Har Ghar Tiranga' programme, saying programmes like this are beyond politics.


Everyone should support it, he said, adding that Congress and other parties should also contribute and not politicise the issue. With the government organising a 'Tiranga bike rally' earlier in the day, Patra noted that Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had flagged it off and said his office is not associated with any politics.


Though the parliamentary affairs ministry, which had organised it in association with the Culture Ministry, said it had sent an invite to every MP, it was largely the BJP parliamentarian who joined the exercise.


"Let's be Indian and let's celebrate India through the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Har Ghar Tiranga," he said, urging the opposition to not politicise these programmes. With the opposition criticising the amendment in the Flag Code, Patra said the changes were necessary so that the national flag can be manufactured on a large scale and reach every household.


For the first time since Independence, a programme to hoist the national flag at such a scale has been launched, he noted. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also appealed to the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and other opposition parties to not politicise the `Har Ghar Tiranga` campaign.


Patra appealed to all the parties and said "There are no hard feelings for anyone, no accusations and no fight. I would like to keep this topic with love because everyone has equal rights on the national flag, we are now close to celebrating August 15 and there is a festive atmosphere in the country. 15 August comes every year but this time it is coming with double enthusiasm because the country is completing 75 years of its independence".