Portraits go up in Assembly but fresh demands emerge

NT Correspondent

Belagavi

Even as new portraits of freedom fighters and stalwarts from independent India were revealed in the Assembly Hall at Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Monday, a debate broke out over portraits of which other personalities should go up. The fresh portraits included those of BR Ambedkar, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhash NAMEChandra Bose, first President Rajendra Prasad, first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and the first woman PM Indira Gandhi.

However, Opposition MLAs demanded icons from their parties also be included among the portraits. BJP lawmakers said former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had earned the right to have his portrait be put among other stalwarts. Meanwhile, JD(S) legislature party leader CB Suresh Babu suggested that a portrait of party patriarch HD Deve Gowda should also be included. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rose up and told the Opposition MLAs that freedom fighters and stalwarts who were dead were being prioritised, adding that all suggestions would receive due consideration.

Assembly Speaker UT Khader said that he would like the portrait of former PM Rajiv Gandhi to be included since he “sacrificed” his life for the country, referring to his assassination by way of suicide bombing. Earlier, CM’s financial advisor had suggested that Basavanna’s portrait towering over the Speaker seemingly doing a gesture to bless the Assembly below him wasn’t prudent.