Kochi: The Kerala leg of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra courted a controversy after local party workers erected a banner with Veer Savakar's picture along with freedom fighters to welcome him near Aluva on Wednesday.
Soon after the issue came to light, INTUC Nedumbassery constituency president Suresh Athani was suspended from the Congress party for placing the banner with the image of Savarkar, an Hindutva idelogue who was charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
The banner was erected by the Chengamanad Mandal Committee on NH near Nedumbassery Airport Junction in Aluva to welcome Rahul Gandhi.
The issue became viral on social media after Independent MLA PV Anwar, supported by the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), posted a photo and a video in this regard in his Facebook.
Later, the Congress workers rushed to the spot and hanged a photo of Mahatma Gandhi to cover Savarkar's picture.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Anwar Sadhat representing Aluva constituency told newspersons that it was a printing mistake.
Responding to the issue, BJP national information technology department in-charge Amit Malviya tweeted that "Veer Savarkar’s pictures adorn Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ernakulum (near airport). Although belated, good realisation for Rahul Gandhi, whose great grandfather Nehru, signed a mercy petition, pleaded the British to allow him to flee from Punjab’s Nabha jail in just 2 weeks." (UNI)
