Post News Network,
Cuttack, August 27: Some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists allegedly showed dishonour to the National Flag during the Tiranga Yatra organised by the party in the city here Saturday.
The party had stocked a large number of flags and also distributed it among its workers much ahead of the yatra. While some women workers of the party were seen putting the National Flag on the ground and sitting on them, a few youth activists were seen putting their feet on the Tricolour. Some of them also wore the National Flag around their neck and used it to wipe their sweat.
The incident invited sharp condemnation from the common people and social activists. BJP leaders, however, denied the allegations. Earlier, Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had flagged off the Tiranga Yatra in the presence of many state-level and district level leaders of the party. The yatra began from the historic Swaraj Ashram at Nimchouri and ended at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Museum, the freedom fighter’s birthplace at Oriya Bazar.
The yatra, he said, is a part of an effort to create awareness among youths about the country’s rich heritage and sacrifices made during the freedom movement.
Though the incident occurred in front of Pradhan and other senior leaders of the party, none of them took any action.
However, BJP leader and former minister Sameer Dey was seen asking party activists to give proper honour to the National Flag after some photo journalists captured the incidents on their cameras. BJP leader Nayan Mohanty, however, denied the allegation while Dey later claimed that he had not seen anyone dishonouring the Tricolour during the yatra.
Inaugurating the yatra, Pradhan announced that the Centre will work with the state government to preserve and maintain heritage buildings of the city.
“The millennium city of Cuttack houses several heritage buildings of importance. The Central government in consultation with the local administration will take measures for conservation and maintenance of these monuments,” he said.
