'Raj Bhavan is not RSS Shakha': Bharat Mata row continues as CPI(M) mouthpiece slams Kerala Governor

Thiruvananthapuram: Deshabhimani, official organ of the ruling CPI(M), on Saturday came out with a hard-hitting editorial against Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishawanath Arlekar over the Bharat Mata row stating that Raj Bhavan is not a "shakha" (unit) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The editorial came amidst the ongoing tussle between Arlekar and the Marxist party-led LDF government over the usage of 'Bharat Mata portrait' during official functions being held in Raj Bhavan.

Meanwhile, as per the latest photos released by Raj Bhavan, the Governor paid floral tributes in front of the portrait on Saturday as well, during the Yoga Day celebrations held there.

The mouthpiece accused the Governor of publicly challenging the Constitution of the country by making Raj Bhavan a venue to display and propagate RSS ideology.

How else could this act be called other than the blatant violation of the constitutional norms, it asked.

The editorial also lavished praise on senior CPI(M) leader and General Education Minister V Sivankutty, who recently boycotted an event at the Raj Bhavan in protest against the display of the Bharat Mata portrait.

Like the Minister said, the Constitution is the backbone of the country and no other concept of the nation stands above it, it pointed out.

This is what the democracy lovers and patriots in the state want to tell Arlekar, the editorial said.

"The Governor and his associates should understand that the Raj Bhavan is not an RSS Shakha. The secular minds of the state are not ready to accept the concept of nation put forward by the RSS. That's the meaning of what Sivankutty has said," the editorial further said.

The Editorial recalled that it was not the first time that the Raj Bhavan created provocation by displaying the portrait of a woman holding a saffron flag in her hands during an official function.

Agriculture Minister P Prasad also boycotted a function recently as a mark of protest against the display of the same portrait, it said.

A circumstance has been created in the country nowadays that it was natural for religion to interfere in politics and vice versa, it said.

"The floral tribute to the portrait of the woman who holds a saffron flag in her hand is the continuation of the same circumstance," it said, and alleged that the objective of the act is to intensify the mission to realise the Hindu nation concept by the RSS.

That danger should be checked by upholding strong secular politics, the CPI(M) mouthpiece added.

Meanwhile, the Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Saturday raised a banner in front of the Sanskrit College here, which comes under the Kerala University, stating that Raj Bhavan is not the property of the RSS.

"We want to say something once more, Mr Governor...Raj Bhavan is not RSS's ancestral property," the banner could be read.

The editorial and the banner protest came a day after the Congress and the CPI said that Kerala Governor Arlekar was behaving as a 'swayamsevak' and turning the Raj Bhavan, his official residence, into a centre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal also said that the President of India should intervene in the matter in view of the Governor's conduct of "misusing his constitutional position" in connection with the Bharat Mata controversy.

The Left student outfits, including SFI, have been on a warpath for some time against the usage of the Bharat Mata portrait during official functions in Raj Bhavan and the display of portraits of RSS ideologues there.