No official version of Bharat Mata portrait, so cannot be allowed in govt events: Kerala govt

Thiruvananthapuram: The Left government in Kerala on Friday made it clear that it was not in agreement with the use of the Bharat Mata portrait at the Environment Day event at the Raj Bhavan here as the picture was not authorised as the official version by the Constitution or the Indian government.

Kerala Agriculture Minister P Prasad, who boycotted the event at the Raj Bhavan a day ago over the use of the portrait, said that those in constitutional offices cannot convert government programmes into political events.

A similar view was also expressed by state General Education Minister V Sivankutty who said that the Raj Bhavan and the Governor were above politics and said that Arlekar should withdraw from the stand taken by him.

The government's stand came a day after Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar asserted that there would be no compromise on Bharat Mata.

Prasad, while talking to a TV channel, said that no Bharat Mata portrait has ever been acknowledged as the official or authorised version by the Constitution or any of the governments in power since independence.

He further said that the portrait about to be used at the event was not carrying the Indian flag, but that of a political organisation, and therefore, it could not be honoured during a government event.

The minister said that the particular political organisation and the Governor were free to pay homage to the portrait at private events, but it cannot be done in state government programmes.

"We all have a political view, but those in constitutional positions have restrictions on how they express it," he added.

He said that the government view was that such a stand ought not to have been taken by a constitutional establishment and expressed hope that it will be corrected by the concerned persons.

"It actually should not be repeated in our country. We cannot accept it in Kerala," he added.

The minister also questioned why the Governor was "rigid" on the issue, when none of the earlier Governors in the state and not even the Presidents of the country have carried out such a practice in the past.

For the World Environment Day event, the Raj Bhavan came out with a minute-to-minute programme, but it initially did not have anything about paying floral tributes to the portrait of Bharat Mata, he said. On eve of the programme, a new schedule was sent to us and it included the paying of floral tribute to Bharat Mata portrait.

"So, I enquired with the Raj Bhavan about the floral tributes and asked them to send me a picture of the portrait. The portrait was the one used by the RSS and was not recognised or authorised as an official version, I informed the Raj Bhavan that we cannot offer floral tributes to it," he said.

The minister said that the Raj Bhavan in response said they cannot remove the portrait.

On being told that the opposition was criticising the lack of response on the issue by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Prasad said that the Congress-led UDF was trying to gain political mileage out of it especially in view of the upcoming bypoll in Nilambur assembly constituency.

After knowing Raj Bhavan's stand, the state government relocated the event to the Secretariat's Durbar Hall and the Raj Bhavan went ahead with its programme.

Later, in a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan, the Governor said, "Whatever be the pressure, from whichever quarters, there will be no compromise whatsoever on Bharat Mata." In his speech at the Raj Bhavan programme, the Governor said two ministers--state Education Minister and Agriculture Minister--had agreed to attend the function but they did not turn up for the event.

While Sangh outfit Bharatiya Vichara Kendram strongly backed the Governor, the ruling CPI(M) and the Congress criticised the Raj Bhavan on the matter.