Bengaluru: The BJP on Tuesday lashed out at the ruling Congress after the members of its students wing, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), allegedly smeared black paint on freedom fighter Veer Savarkar’s nameboard in Yelahanka and installed a flex banner with the name of another freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
State BJP president B Y Vijayendra, in a post on X, demanded that the government should immediately arrest the ‘NSUI rowdies’ who disfigured the nameboard of a flyover.
“The NSUI rowdies have defaced the nameboard of Veer Savarkar flyover in Yelahanka by using the portrait of another patriot as a shield. Protecting traitors insulting patriots is Congress culture,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka equated the ruling Congress with banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
“The Congress government has surrendered itself to appeasement politics. It can be recalled the PFI’s affiliate Socialist Democratic Party of India and its students’ wing Campus Front of India had demanded that Karnataka should drop lessons on Veer Savarkar from school curriculum. After coming to power, the Congress removed the lessons of patriots,” he alleged.
Ashoka said Savarkar’s anti-untouchability measures inspired Ambedkar, but not Congressmen. “Ambedkar had described Savarkar as one of the few people working hard in society to eradicate untouchability. But today, Congress works to smear black paint on his name. So, is this Congress party’s respect for Ambedkar?,” he asked.
Published 29 May 2024, 02:53 IST