Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated a portrait of the father of Hindutva, Veer Savarkar in Vidhan Parishad. Samajwadi Party and the Indian National Congress have strongly opposed the exhibition of a portrait of Veer Damodar Savarkar at the Vidhan Parishad Picture Gallery.
Even after 50 years of Savarkar’s death, his name evokes strong reactions. Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883, and is known as the father of Hindutva. Savarkar wrote the controversial book Hindutva and is known for his aspiration of Akhand Bharat and Hindu Rashtra.
Amid his radical views, Savarkar has faced continuous opposition from many influential people in India. Getting a place at the Vidhan Parishad’s Picture Gallery has again ignited the inherent resistance and conflict.
Deepak Singh, Congress MLC has penned to the Chairman UP Council, Ramesh Yadav, and has demanded immediate removal of Savarkar’s portrait from the gallery. Furthermore, he said that Savarkar’s photo at the Picture Gallery is an insult to all the freedom fighters and urged that it should be removed immediately and can be placed at the BJP office instead.
Samajwadi Party’s president Akhilesh Yadav also condemned the Uttar Pradesh government’s move and said that there are so many controversies around Savarkar and the entire country knows how he begged and apologized to Britishers for his release. Taking a jibe on the BJP, Mr. Yadav asked the nationalist party to learn from history and reiterated that his (Savarkar) picture is nothing but an insult to our great freedom fighters.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, who had inaugurated the gallery, justifying the move said: “Savarkar was a great freedom fighter who was awarded life sentence twice for his role in the freedom struggle”
Last Year, BJP in another governing state, Karnataka named 47th flyover after Savarkar and Karnataka’s chief minister praised him as a freedom fighter. CM Yediyurappa had said “Many got their due. Some like Savarkar did not get full credit, that is the irony.” Opposition in Karnataka showed their disagreement and hostility in the act of naming the flyover.
