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Congress MLA Laxman Savadi courted controversy this week after seeking ‘approval’ from Mallikarjun Kharge before chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. The incident took place mere days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections during an election rally in the Kalaburagi area of Karnataka. Savadi had left the BJP to join Congress last year ahead of the Assembly elections.
“I hope Kharge sahab doesn’t misconstrue this. I wish to say this to you all. I shall say ‘Bolo Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and you all have to repeat it after me with tight fists,” reports quoted the Athani MLA as saying.
The remarks have prompted outrage in the BJP ranks with Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra dubbing it a ‘very pitiful and dangerous’ turn of events. Karnataka will incidentally vote during the second and third phases of the Lok Sabha elections — on April 26 and May 7.
“Isn’t it very pitiful and dangerous that a Congress leader trying to express his patriotism and praise Bharat Mata feels guilty and hence seeks to clarify his stand of raising the slogan to their national president,” asked Vijayendra.
“MLA Laxman Savadi understood the true ideology of the Congress party after seeing the action of the Minister Priyank Kharge who advocated on behalf of those who shouted the Pakistan Zindabad slogan. He was very scared of raising the ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai‘ slogan within in the Congress party and asked permission from Mallikarjun Kharge,” added a post on X by Leader of Opposition R Ashoka (roughly translated from Kannada).
The Bharat Mata Ki Jai chant had previously become a topic of debate in late March after Keraka Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that it was coined by a Muslim. The senior politician said that the slogan had been formulated in the 19th century by the prime minister of Maratha Peshwa Nana Saheb. Vijayan also wondered whether the ‘sangh parivar’ would now decide to avoid chanting the slogan “since it was framed by a Muslim”.
“Now, in some programs we hear some Sangh Parivar leaders asking people to chant ‘Bharat mata ki Jai’. Who coined the slogan Bharat mata ki jai? Was it some Sangh Parivar leader? I don’t know if the Sangh Parivar knows this. His name is Azimullah Khan,” he had said during a rally against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 13 Apr 2024, 02:29 PM IST
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