Savarkar, Patel portraits unveiled in Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha amid protest

The BJP is confident that the Congress will not oppose outright the choice of portraits, especially Savarkar who is popular among Marathi-speaking people of Belagavi

Seven life-size portraits, including that of Hindu nationalist V D Savarkar, were unveiled in the Assembly hall of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Monday.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, along with Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, unveiled the portraits even as the Congress staged a protest demanding the installation of photos of its own list of personalities.

The Assembly hall of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha now has the portraits of Swami Vivekananda, Subhash Chandra Bose, and B R Ambedkar to the Speaker’s right-hand side behind his seat. Above the Speaker’s seat is a portrait of Basavanna. To the Speaker’s left are portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel and V D Savarkar.

The political messaging in the choice of the seven portraits is obvious: a potent mix of Hindutva (Vivekananda and Savarkar), nationalism (Bose and Patel) and social justice (Basavanna and Ambedkar). Basavanna also happens to be revered by Lingayats, the BJP’s core support base.

The BJP is confident that the Congress will not oppose outright the choice of portraits, especially Savarkar given his iconic status among the Marathi-speaking people of Belagavi where the winter session of the legislature is taking place.

Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah wrote to Speaker Kageri urging him to install the portraits of personalities who have contributed to India’s “culture, tradition and development”.

He listed the names of Maharshi Valmiki, Basavanna, Kanakadasa, Shishunala Sharif, Narayana Guru, Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Kuvempu and Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Congress staged a demonstration with photographs of some of these personalities demanding their portraits to be installed inside the Assembly hall. The Congress is expected to make an issue on the inclusion of Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister, and the omission of Nehru, India’s first prime minister.