Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday downplayed the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) row which replaced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo with that of Mahatma Gandhi on its calendars, stating that the calendars had no image of Gandhiji when the Congress was in power.
"For five years, during the Congress regime, Gandhiji's photo wasn't imprinted in any of the KVIC calendars, they were silent, then why so much noise now? The KVIC thought that by adding Modi's photo in the calendars it would motivate people and it will gain more publicity," Naidu told media here.
The controversy surrounding Prime Minister Modi's photo the KVIC calendar turned murkier after the opposition launched a scathing attack, saying that the government's decision to replace Mahatma Gandhi's photo with that of the former was an assault on the legacy of Father of the Nation.
"This is abhorable. These people are full blown fascist for our country. Apart from the pain it has caused to all section of people of this vast country, this reflex very poorly on the government choices and priorities. In fact, this constitutes an assault on the legacy of Gandhiji and I think this would reflect in a most negative way for the government," Congress leader Om Prakash Mishra told ANI.
Prakash further questioned the Prime Minister Modi as how can he symbolise the charkha and replace Mahatma Gandhi, while adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got its priorities wrong and is attempting to rewrite history.
Resonating similar views, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Manab Mukherjee labelled the Prime Minister and the BJP government as 'megalomaniac'.
"It is not only that the Prime Minister himself was a megalomaniac but the whole government and the whole system is run by the megalomaniacs. How can Narendra Modi replace Gandhi Ji? I feel pity for him...
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