Bengaluru: “The Gandhi family is God, and I am their devotee,” Karnataka Deputy CM and state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar said Tuesday as he apologised for singing the anthem of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) inside the legislative assembly.
Shivakumar explained that he was only trying to pull the leg of the Opposition and did not intend to hurt the feelings of anyone, going so far as to call himself a “devotee” of the Congress, while hitting back against some party colleagues, who questioned his loyalty.
“I would like to reiterate my loyalty to the Gandhi family and the Congress party. No one can question the Gandhi family. I am a born Congressman, and I will die as a Congressman,” Shivakumar told reporters Tuesday in Bengaluru.
His apology comes days after he broke out singing ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale’ in the state legislature at the tail-end of the monsoon session, last week on Thursday. A row has since broken out in the Karnataka Congress, with his party colleagues taking positions on two different sides of the fence—some defending him and others demanding his apology.
Kunigal MLA H.D. Ranganath—a Congress leader and close aide of Shivakumar—known for backing the Deputy CM in a dispute with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s supporters, remained steadfast in defending his colleague, stating that the RSS anthem was both “melodious & patriotic”.
Senior leaders, such as B.K.Hariprasad, Satish Jarkiholi, and K.N. Rajanna, the ousted former minister of the Congress in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, attacked Shivakumar for singing the anthem of an outfit that the party has opposed for long and banned at least three times since Independence.
Shivakumar earlier tried to justify his singing of the anthem, saying it was part of his research on India’s other political outfits. He said that though he entered the political field in 1980, he completed his graduation only in 2007, at the age of 47.
Before joining politics, he read and learnt about the NSUI, or the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the youth wing of the Congress. He also researched the RSS-BJP-Janata Dal, the contributions of the Gandhis, as well as the Indian Communist parties.
“As I did my research on the RSS and various political parties, I found that under Gandhi, India completed 100 years, so we should do 100 Congress Bhavans before treating them as temples. Who has taken this bold decision? Why have I taken this decision? To determine whether my party cadres are aware of the significance of a Congress-made temple in every assembly segment. That will be history,” he said.
The Deputy CM, however, categorically denied that the Congress high command asked him to apologise, reiterating that all the Congress cadre in jail for now—including himself—were well aware of their commitment and contributions to the party.
“If anyone wants to know about my history, my commitment and ideology or wants to do politics within this, it is left to them. I do not want to comment,” he said. However, Shivakumar added that he would like to apologise if he hurt anyone with his comments. “If anyone was hurt, I feel sorry for them…I plan to apologise to them.”
Responding to the comments on his singing, Shivakumar said that God gave humans various opportunities and mouths to talk.
The BJP, meanwhile, criticised Shivakumar’s decision to apologise.
“If saying ‘Namaste Sadaa Vatsale Maatrubhoome‘—a humble salutation to Mother India—requires an apology, then who exactly does the @INCIndia party expect Indians to hail? Mother Italy? Or the Madam who came from Italy…” R. Ashoka, the Karnataka Leader of Opposition, said in an X post.
R. Ashoka said that Shivakumar should have resigned, instead of apologising for singing a patriotic song. “If D.K. Shivakumar had even an ounce of self-respect or courage, he would never have apologised. If the pressure was unbearable, he should have resigned from Congress without hesitation.”
“On one hand, Congress defends those who shout, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, in the Vidhan Soudha. On the other, they vilify those who show reverence to Bharat Mata. What else can we call this if not a Deshdrohi mindset? And who exactly commanded Deputy CM @DKShivakumar to apologise?” the LoP asked.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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