CPI doesn't need to learn patriotism from RSS: D Raja

New Delhi: CPI general secretary D Raja said on Monday that Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar should clarify who his Bharat Mata is, as he asserted that his party does not need to learn patriotism from the RSS.

A controversy erupted after a Bharat Mata portrait, allegedly associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakhas, was used at a World Environment Day event at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, which led Kerala minister P Prasad, a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, to boycott the programme.

The CPI is the second-largest party in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.

"I do not know what the governor of Kerala understands about Bharat Mata, about the tricolour.... I have raised this issue in Parliament as well.... Who is your Bharat Mata? Please tell us," Raja told PTI.

"Our Bharat Mata is working in the agricultural field. Our Bharat Mata is working in jungles, safeguarding the jal-jameen-jungle. Our Bharat Mata is working in schools, in offices, in factories. Our Bharat Mata is serving in the Army and defence forces. Who is your Bharat Mata? They are not clear," he said.

"They (BJP-RSS) think they are the sole owners of Bharat Mata or the tricolour. They never fought for the independence of this country. The CPI fought for the country's independence from colonial rule, making supreme sacrifices.... What was the RSS doing?" he asked.

Raja questioned what role did the RSS play in the freedom movement and pointed out that like the CPI, the right-wing organisation was also founded in 1925.

"What was the role of the RSS in the freedom movement? They think Bharat Mata is defined by the RSS? And they think the governors' Raj Bhavans are RSS Bhavans?" he asked.

"They question our nationalism, our patriotism. Communists are the last people to learn nationalism or patriotism from the BJP-RSS.... The governor does not know what is India's freedom struggle, the sacrifice made by the Communist Party of India," Raja said.

The row was kicked off when the Raj Bhavan decided to use the Bharat Mata portrait for the Environment Day event, resulting in it being boycotted by state Agriculture Minister Prasad, who claimed that the portrait was the one used by the RSS and said it was not authorised as the official version by the Constitution or the Indian government.

After Prasad boycotted the event, the governor issued a statement, saying, "Whatever be the pressure, from whichever quarters, there will be no compromise whatsoever on Bharat Mata." Subsequently, the CPI announced that it would hoist the national flag, which is the symbol of Bharat Mata, at all its branches on Saturday and plant saplings in front of it as a mark of protest against the governor's stand.