Kottayam: The BJP’s attempts to rekindle the row over a remark made by Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer was evident on Sunday as top leaders of the party addressed an election rally at Puthuppally where a bypoll will take place on September 5.
BJP state president K Surendran tried to target both the CPM and Congress over the issue. His argument was that while CPM leader Shamseer refused to apologise for the remarks he made on Lord Ganesha, Congress did not bother to make him do so.
He was addressing an election convention of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at Puthuppally which was held on the Ganesh Chathurthi, a day celebrated by Hindus as the birthday of the Lord Ganesha.
Surendran cited the reports of Russia’s Luna-25 crashing on the Moon’s surface in a bid to stress the importance given to Lord Ganesha in Hindu culture. “Russia’s Luna has crashed while our Chandrayan mission is set to succeed. We pray to Lord Ganesha whenever we launch a space mission. Such is the importance we give to Lord Ganesha. Shamseer insulted Lord Ganesh, who is worshipped by millions, by calling him just a myth,” Surendran said.
“All community leaders wanted Shamseer to apologise. The Congress did not, however, put pressure on him to do so. Their stance was that they did not want to escalate the issue. I don’t understand how seeking apology from Shamseer would escalate the issue,” he said.
Surendran also drew a comparison between the way the CPM responded to a remark made by Culture Minister Saji Cherian that he did not find overt expressions of faith in Saudi Arabia. “Saji Cherian made such an innocuous statement but he had to retract it in no time. Shamseer still did not have to apologise,” he said.
BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal also mentioned the ‘myth row’ at the convention. Inaugurating the convention, he said when he visited a temple in the morning, a lot of people were angry about Shamseer’s remarks.
