A BJP leader in Kerala's Alappuzha district has added his share to Nehru bashing which the saffron party's leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is often accused of.
If Modi is accused of trying to wipe out Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy from India's history by blaming Nehru for all the crises India has gone through, the BJP district leader has gone to the extend of replacing Nehru with Modi during the recent Children's Day celebrations on a flex, sparking outrage.
Children's Day is celebrated across India on November 14, the birthday of Nehru, India's first prime minister. However, the controversial flex, printed by BJP leader and Kayamkulam municipality councillor D Aswinidev had the picture of Modi while Nehru was missing.
The flex was printed for a rally of preschool children at Kayamkulam town. The anganwadi is in the 34th ward of Kayamkulam municipality, which is represented by Aswinidev.
A photo of Nehru had to be stapled on the banner before the rally started following an altercation between Aswinidev and a section of parents who had accompanied their kids to attend the event.
The incident has snowballed into a political controversy with the Congress demanding an inquiry into it even as the councillor admitted that the error was inadvertent.
A video in which Aswinidev is seen arguing with some women has gone viral.
Aswinidev told Onmanorama that he was provoked after some parents folded and stapled the banner in a bid to hide Modi's picture.
“I admit that it was a mistake not to include Nehru's image. It was a human error. I simply didn't give a thought about it. However, hiding Modi's image from the banner is something I can never agree with. It's an insult to the prime minister. I would also have had to answer to my party if I had allowed to cover the PM's image,” he said.
Aswinidev is BJP's Alappuzha district general secretary.
Aswinidev, who came to the venue amid the protest, in turn removed the staples and proceeded the rally with the banner featuring Modi's image.
Later addressing the children he spoke about Nehru and his importance, Aswinidev claimed.
He has blamed a woman named Sheela, a CPM supporter, for creating the controversy.
In the video, posted on social media, Sheela is seen arguing with Aswinidev.
“Sheela was prodded by a Left-leaning local journalist,” he said.
Sheela, however, said there was no political intention behind her protest.
“I had gone to the anganwadi to drop my granddaughter there. The banner was displayed there that time. As I looked on it, I found something wrong with it. Then I said it was unacceptable to omit Chachaji's photo and include Modi's photo in it. Seeing the banner, children may have mistaken Modi for Nehru,” she said.
She said some parents then chose to hide Modi's photo also.
“Aswinidev believes that I did it which is not true. I haven't even touched the banner,” she said. “Amid the melee, somebody brought a photo of Nehru and stapled it on the banner,” she said.
BJP has decided to file a complaint against Sheela for trying to insult the prime minister and disrupt the Children's Day rally.
Aswinidev said he decided to sponsor the banner as the anganwadi had been using an old handwritten one for the past three years.
“Had I noticed the issue earlier, I would have asked people concerned to not use the banner,” he said.
The BJP leader said he has made it a point to use Modi's photo in all the programmes related to the central government as the CPM-ruled municipality never includes the PM's photo even during programmes sponsored by the Centre.
Congress sees Sangh agenda
The Congress sees the Sangh Parivar's agenda to erase Nehru from India's history in the banner row.
“Aswinidev is BJP's general secretary. We will be staging a protest in Kayamkulam seeking an investigation into his act,” U Muhammed, leader of opposition in Kayamkulam municipality, told Onmanorama.
He charged that Aswinidev was trying to elevate his image in the party as an aggressive Hindutva campaigner.
