No proposal to remove photo of Savarkar from Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi: Speaker
Rural development minister Priyank Kharge, along with other Congress legislators, had demanded that the life-size portrait of Veer Savarkar be removed
Bengaluru: Amid the demands from a section of Congress leaders to remove Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar’s portrait from Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, assembly Speaker UT Khader on Thursday said that there is no such proposal before him and that he would take a decision going by the Constitution.
Savarkar portrait was unveiled in the assembly during the then Bharatiya Janata Party government last year.
Rural development minister Priyank Kharge among other Congress legislators had demanded that the life-size portrait of Savarkar be removed.
Reacting to the demands, Speaker Khader said that he would decide according to the law. “There is no such proposal before me. I will make a decision when somebody brings a proposal. I will decide according to the Constitution. All legislators are equal for me,” Khader told reporters in Belagavi.
Asked as to what he would do if such a proposal comes, he said, “let it come first...”
Priyank Kharge on Thursday reiterated his demand to remove Savarkar’s portrait from Suvarna Soudha. “I can’t accept the ideology followed by Gandhiji’s killers. My personal opinion is that Savarkar’s portrait must be removed. If it was in my hands I would have removed it today itself. We will abide by the decision taken by the Speaker,” he said.
Kharge also asked questions to BJP leaders who are opposing the removal of Savarkar’s portrait.
“Last time I asked a few questions to the BJP leaders and they are yet to answer them. Who gave the title “veer” to Savarkar? Did Savarkar take a pension from Britishers? Did he write a pardon letter to the British? When Subhas Chandra Bose was building INA did Savarkar work against him? And what was the opinion of Savarkar on gau mata? Let them answer these questions first,” Kharge said.
On December 19 last year, a life-size portrait of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar was unveiled inside the Karnataka assembly building in Belagavi, drawing criticism from the opposition Congress, which termed the move an attempt to divert people’s attention from the problems plaguing the state. The then government unveiled the portrait of Savarkar along with that of Swami Vivekananda, Subhash Chandra Bose, B R Ambedkar, Basavanna, Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Responding to the controversy, former BJP chief minister BS Yediyurappa said, “You should not take the risk of taking out the photo of Veer Savarkar from the legislative assembly. The people of the state will not take it easy. I advise the CM and the ruling party not to take such a risk.”