New Delhi: The replacement of Mahatma Gandhi's photographs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's in Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC)'s annual calendar and diary yesterday kicked off a political storm. While the opposition strongly condemned the move, the BJP and the government sought to defend it citing laws.
Media reported that Modi's picture spinning the charkha donning the cover page of the KVIC calendar and diary, instead of the iconic picture of Gandhi weaving khadi on a simple charkha, wearing his trademark loin cloth. Modi, already facing heat over the move to demonetise higher denomination notes, was on Friday the subject of ridicule not just from the opposition but also from Mahatma's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi.
Among the first to mock the move was Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
Posting the IANS story on Twitter, Gandhi said "The Mangalayaan effect", referring to his earlier jibe at Modi for taking the credit after India's successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission or the Mangalyaan.
The opposition parties were unsparing in slamming the move, asserting that the 'Father of the Nation' was irreplaceable.Terming replacement of Gandhi's photo as "sacrilegious", Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "Obsession bordering on narcissism has unfortunately become the hallmark of the PM."
