Cong accuses Goa BJP chief of 'insulting' tricolour, seeks his apology; he calls Oppn party 'frustrated'

The Congress has accused BJP's Goa unit president Sadanand Tanavade of insulting the tricolour by allegedly holding it upside down, and demanded an apology from him, while the latter hit back saying the "frustrated" opposition party was creating an issue out of unnecessary things.

Congress's Goa unit spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar alleged that Tanavade had held the national flag upside down during a tricolour distribution event in Panaji on Tuesday. The event was organised by Panaji MLA and state Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserratte.

"Goa BJP president Sadanand Tanavade insulted the 'tiranga' yesterday (Tuesday) by displaying it upside down," Panjikar said in a press note issued here on Wednesday. "I urge him (Tanavade) to take lessons on how to respect our national flag before going on his political mission of 'Tiranga Jagruti'," he added. Panjikar said Tanavade should apologise to all Indians "for his conduct".

Reacting to it, Tanavade on Thursday told reporters that Congress was showing its frustration by issuing such statements against him. "I did not unfurl the national flag upside down. It was just for a moment that when I was unfolding the flag that it got opened upside down, but within a second I corrected it," he said.

The opposition party is creating an unnecessary issue out of frustration, he added. Tanavade said the BJP knows how to respect the national flag and accused the Congress of telling people not to hoist the tricolour as a part of the central government's countrywide 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign.