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'Hates Indian tradition': Amit Shah snaps back after Congress' 'sengol', Akhilesh Yadav's 'accepted defeat' jibes
The government's claim the 'Sengol' signifies the transfer of power has been questioned by the opposition and has led to a war of words between the two camps.
Union home minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party boss JP Nadda hit back Friday against opposition leaders criticising the installation of the 'sengol' - a Tamil artifact the government says signifies the transfer of power between kings or rulers, and which was used when the British transferred power to India's first independent government - in the new Parliament building.
Shah accused the Congress - which insists there is no proof the 'sengol' was used as such when the British transferred power - of 'hating Indian traditions'. Nadda accused the Congress of 'monarchic methods (that) are at loggerheads with the principles of republicanism and democracy in our Constitution'.
"Why does the Congress party hate Indian traditions and culture so much?"
READ | 'Why does Congress hate Indian culture?' Amit Shah on 'sengol' row
"A sacred 'sengol' was given to Pandit (Jawaharlal) 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.
Nadda tweeted that the boycott of the new Parliament's inauguration - announced Thursday by 19 opposition parties, including the Congress - amounted to an insult to those who framed and wrote the Indian Constitution.
READ | 'Soul of democracy…': 19 parties to skip Parliament inauguration
"What connects most parties which are boycotting the inauguration of the new Parliament building? The answer is simple- they are dynasty run political parties, whose monarchic methods are at loggerheads with the principles of republicanism and democracy in our Constitution," the BJP chief tweeted.
He also said the opposition is still 'unable to digest a simple fact... people of India have placed their faith in a man hailing from a humble background'.
READ | What is the 'sengol' sceptre to be installed by Modi. Things to know
Cong, Akhilesh Yadav target BJP in 'sengol' row
Earlier Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress' Jairam Ramesh each hit out at the BJP and prime minister Narendra Modi over the 'sengol' row.
Ramesh tweeted: "NO documented evidence whatsoever of Mountbatten, Rajaji and Nehru describing this sceptre as a symbol of transfer of British power..."
"All claims to this effect are simpl(y) - BOGUS. Wholly and completely manufactured in the minds of a few and dispersed into WhatsApp."
Ex-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party will also boycott Sunday's inauguration - took a swipe at the BJP for using the 'sengol' as a 'transfer of power' artifact, claiming it meant the party had 'accepted defeat' - the reference was to the Lok Sabha election scheduled for next year.
"'Sengol' is a symbol of transfer of power (from one hand to another)… BJP seems to have accepted the time has come to hand over power," Yadav tweeted.
All about the 'sengol'
It was a traditional for rulers of the Chola dynasty in what was Tamil Nadu for samayacharyas (spiritual leaders) to lead the coronation of kings and sanctify the transfer of power, professor S Rajavelu, formerly with the Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology of Tamil University, told PTI.
"Tamil kings had this sengol…which is a symbol of justice and good governance," he said, adding that it was the head of ancient Shaivite math Thiruvavaduthurai Aadeenam that presented it to India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 to signify the transfer of power from the British.
Watch: New Parliament's historic 'sengol'
The 'sengol' will be installed near the seat of the Lok Sabha Speaker after the new Parliament is inaugurated by Modi at noon on Sunday. The grand event will be attended by lawmakers from the BJP (of course) and also its National Democratic Alliance allies, as well as a handful of opposition outfits like the Biju Janata Dal, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the YSR Congress.
READ | What is 'Sengol' (sceptre) to be installed by Modi in new Parliament
Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party will attend too, though she will not.
Opposition's joint statement on Parliament inauguration
However, nearly two dozen others, including the Congress, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool and the Aam Aadmi Party that is in power in Delhi, will skip the inauguration over a row that includes having Modi dedicate the building rather than president Droupadi Murmu, who has not even been invited to the event.
In a joint statement issued Thursday, 19 parties condemned the BJP for having 'completely side-lined president Murmu' and called it a 'grave insult (and) direct assault on democracy…'
A phalanx of BJP leaders, including union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, have since defended the government and criticised the opposition's proposed boycott of the ceremony.
Finance minister Sitharaman reminded them several had opposed Murmu's election. "I am surprised... leaders of the opposition parties spoke ill of her... but the prime minister gave her due respect. Those who ran a bitter campaign then are now suddenly speaking for her," she told reporters in Chennai.
Court junks plea on Murmu's invite
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court this afternoon refused a plea by a lawyer seeking direction to the centre to invite Murmu, arguing the government's failure to do so was disrespect to the office of the President of India.
