The Congress and the Samajwadi Party have remonstrated against a portrait of Hindu ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at the Vidhan Parishad Picture Gallery that was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council chairman Ramesh Yadav, Congress MLC Deepak Singh sought immediate removal of Veer Savarkar’s photo from the gallery.
“His (Savarkar) photo at the picture gallery is an insult to all freedom fighters. It should be removed immediately and can be placed at the BJP office,” said Singh.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said: “So many controversies surround Savarkar. The entire country knows how he begged and apologised to the British for his release. The BJP should learn from history. His picture is nothing but an insult to our great freedom fighters.”
However, UP CM Adityanath described Savarkar as “a great freedom fighter who was awarded life sentence twice for his role in the freedom struggle”.
Last year, Karnataka’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had inaugurated Bengaluru’s 47th flyover named after Veer Savarkar and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had hailed him as a freedom fighter. While hailing every freedom fighter’s contribution, Yediyurappa had said: “Many got their due. Some like Veer Savarkar did not get full credit, that is the irony.”
Both the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular had lodged their protests against the naming of the flyover in Yelahanka after Savarkar.
Born on May 28, 1883, in a Marathi Brahmin family, Veer Savarkar is known for his vision of Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) and Akhand Bharat (United India).
