DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt has said the country will not trust those who do not hoist the tricolour on their houses on Independence Day.
Bhatt’s statement has drawn flak from Opposition parties, with both the Congress and the AAP terming the BJP leader’s remark as “irresponsible and condemnable”.
Uttarakhand Congress chief Karan Mahra said, “If these saffron-clad leaders are such big patriots, why didn’t RSS hoist the national flag at its headquarters in Nagpur for 51 years? The August Kranti marked the victory of Congress ideology. The BJP has done a bad mimicry of the great event with its Har Ghar Tiranga programme.”
The Opposition parties took strong objection to Bhatt’s statement that “photography of those houses will be done where the tricolour will not be hoisted”. AAP spokesperson Uma Sisodia said Bhatt’s remarks were “ridiculous”.
“No one has insulted the tricolour as much as the BJP has done till date,” Sisodia said and sought Bhatt’s apology.
However, Bhatt played down his reported remark that pictures of houses where no tricolour is hoisted should be sent to him saying it was meant only for the party workers and not for the general public. “My statement was meant for party workers only as I want each one of them to respond to the Prime Minister’s call,” he clarified.
‘Every home must hoist the flag’
“Our freedom fighters went to the gallows holding the tricolour. I want every home across India to hoist the tri-colour in response to PM’s call,” he said.