The Congress was furious today, claiming that no senior minister was present at the usual ritual in parliament to commemorate Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. The occasion was also skipped by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, according to the party. Every year on November 14th, the nation’s first Prime Minister’s birthday, flower tributes are paid to his image in the Central Hall of Parliament.
Jairam Ramesh, the Congress’s top whip in the Rajya Sabha, tweeted: “The customary ritual to honour the birth anniversary of people whose pictures decorate the Central Hall produced an extraordinary scene today in Parliament. Rajya Sabha Chairman is not present. There isn’t a single Minister in the room. Is there anything more heinous than this?!”
Read also: BJP Hits Out at Congress Over Criticizing Hindutva
Other opposition leaders slammed the action as well. “I am no longer surprised by anything. One day at a time, this regime is undermining India’s great institutions, including Parliament “Derek O’Brien, a prominent politician of the Trinamool Congress, took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
On May 5, 1966, then-President of India, Dr. S Radhakrishnan, unveiled a picture of Jawaharlal Nehru in the Central Hall of Parliament House. The Congress has already chastised the administration when a portrait of Nehru was removed from posters for the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,” the massive Independence Day celebrations scheduled for the 75th anniversary. Mr Ramesh had described the move as “terrible,” saying, “Not surprising given this administration and its toadies posing as professors, but atrocious nonetheless.”
Read also: Under Congress rule, India was partially a Muslim nation: BJP leader
No country, according to party spokesman Gaurav Gogoi, removes the first prime minister off a website dedicated to the liberation struggle, calling the decision “petty” and a “injustice.” Shashi Tharoor, a Congress lawmaker, claimed the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) had “disgraced” itself. Within the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” commemoration, the ICHR, an autonomous agency under the Ministry of Education, has been holding a series of talks and seminars on the independence movement.
