Amid controversy over excluding first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Karnataka government's newspaper advertisement on freedom fighters, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai took a dig at the Congress and said he is “proud of the RSS' ideals” and “bowed his head to its patriotism”. The BJP government in the state had come under fire after an ad for Independence Day included Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, but excluded Jawaharlal Nehru. The ad had appeared in multiple newspapers on August 14.
Clarifying that he and his government respect Nehru, using whose name Congress ruled the country for 65 years, he accused the opposition party of neglecting other national icons like BR Ambedkar and Lal Bahadur Shastri. "In the government's advertisement, we had mentioned some freedom fighters, who were never even heard of before with their photos. No one spoke well about it, instead they (Congress) are sad that one of their leaders' names was missing," CM Bommai said. Speaking at a BJP event to commemorate 75th anniversary of India's independence, he said, "We haven't forgotten him and his works. We have respect for Nehru."
"Someone said, Bommai has become an RSS slave. I want to say that I bow down my head to its (RSS) ideals and principles and that patriotism. I'm committed to build the country on those ideals and principles and I'm proud of it," he said.
The Congress on August 14 took strong exception to the exclusion of Nehru in the newspaper advertisement on freedom fighters and termed the BJP government's action "pathetic". Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had called CM Bommai an "RSS slave", while AICC general secretary and in-charge of the party affairs in the state, Randeep Surjewala, had said “the BJP's hatred for the country's first Prime Minister had reached its zenith”.
Speaking to reporters about the incident, the Chief Minister further hit out at the Congress, accusing it of not allowing BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, to come to Parliament, and neglecting his memory for years. Further pointing out that the families of several national icons like Subash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Ambedkar are today not in mainstream politics, without naming anyone, he said those people who benefited politically because of the freedom struggle will have to answer about “ills” like appeasement politics that exist today.
State BJP General Secretary N Ravi Kumar, had however, said Nehru's name was omitted "intentionally", as he was responsible for the partition of the country.