'Bharat Mata' row continues in Kerala with Guv tribute to portrait, CPI poster withdrawal

Kottayam(Kerala): The 'Bharat Mata' controversy continued in Kerala as Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar paid tributes to a 'Bharat Mata' portrait during Goa Day celebrations at the Raj Bhavan, while the CPI withdrew a local party event poster featuring a different version of the image, showing her holding the national tricolour.

As part of the Goa Day celebrations at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Arlekar paid floral tributes to the same 'Bharat Mata' portrait which had resulted in State Agricultural Minister P Prasad boycotting the Environment Day event there last week.

Goa Foundation Day was celebrated at the Kerala Raj Bhavan as part of the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative, the Governor's office said.

The same day, the CPI withdrew a poster, in connection with a local party event here from June 13 to 15, that carried an image of 'Bharat Mata' dressed in a tricolor saree and holding the national flag.

V B Binu, CPI District Secretary, said that as soon as information about the poster was received, instructions were given to withdraw it from social media to avoid "unnecessary controversy".

He also said that it was not right to combine the national flag with party programmes or symbols.

The CPI, the second-largest partner in the ruling LDF in Kerala, was the first to object to the use of the 'Bharat Mata' portrait by the Raj Bhavan.

CPI leader and minister, Prasad, boycotted the Environment Day event at the Raj Bhavan as floral tributes had to be paid to the portrait.

He had later said that there was no official version of the 'Bharat Mata' according to the Constitution or the India government and the portrait at the event was widely used by the RSS.

Shortly thereafter, the CPI announced a campaign of hoisting the national flag and planting saplings before it.

On June 7, it hoisted national flags and planted saplings at all its branches and also raised 'Bharat Mata ki jai' slogans.

The very next day, Arlekar took a dig at the Left party saying, "Those who never thought of 'Bharat Mata' are saying 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. That is a good contribution. I appreciate that." The same day, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said that there was no concept of 'Bharat Mata' as it was not there in the Constitution.