BJP accused of insulting Tricolour during Kalyan Singh homage

The Opposition parties attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for placing its party flag on top of the Tricolour while paying homage to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, who died on Saturday.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party accused the BJP of placing party above the nation and insulting the Tricolour after a photograph, tweeted by the BJP, showed the saffron party’s flag covering half of the national flag draped over a casket containing Kalyan Singh’s mortal remains in capital city Lucknow.

“Is it ok to place party flag over Indian flag in New India? Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV tweeted. 

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also took a dig at the BJP. Recalling that he had to fight a court case for four years “merely for placing my hand on my heart during the singing of the National Anthem (rather than standing stiffly to attention),” he said the nation should be told “how the ruling party feels about this insult.”

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari said the BJP had as usual expressed no regret.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda and other leaders paid homage to Singh in Lucknow on Sunday a day after he passed away at the city’s Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while paying tributes to Singh’s mortal remains in Aligarh, described the former Rajasthan governor as “a true son of Bharat Mata”.

Singh, who was ailing for some time, was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on July 4 due to an infection and reduced consciousness level. He died due to sepsis and multi-organ failure with Uttar Pradesh government announcing a three-day mourning and a holiday on Monday, when the former chief minister’s last rites will be performed at Rajghat in Narora of Bulandshahr district with full state honours.