Karnataka Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka has warned the Congress government against removing the photo of VD Savarkar. Ashoka told reporters that the Congress government plans to remove the photograph of VD Savarkar and instead install the photograph of late former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. “Veer Savarkar is a patriot who was imprisoned during the freedom movement,” Ashoka said.
He said that the BJP government had installed Savarkar’s photo in the Belgaum assembly, and the Congress is now planning to remove it. “They (government) argue that the photo of the late former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru should be placed instead of Savarkar photo,” Ashoka said. He said that installing the picture of Nehru is glorification of hereditary politics.
“The Congress government wants only the photos of the grandfather, mother, son, and grandson in Karnataka. As the opposition, we will challenge the ruling government and stage a protest,” he said. He said that communal steps and the imposition of Tipu Sultan's ideologies by the Congress government will also be protested by the BJP.
In 2022, the previous BJP government unveiled the photograph of VD Savarkar in the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha after the commencement of the first day of the winter session. Opposing the installation of the photo of the controversial VD Savarkar inside the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, the Congress had staged a protest. Savarkar’s image was unveiled in the Assembly hall behind the Speaker's seat, along with portraits of Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel, BR Ambedkar, Swami Vivekananda and Basavanna. However, the BJP had omitted the portrait of Nehru.
The Congress party then demanded that the photo of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru should also be installed along with others.