Modi’s Moscow gaffe: Cong calls it unhealthy disrespect for national icons

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for walking past the guard of honour while Indian national Anthem was being played in Moscow, Congress on Thursday alleged this “unhealthy disrespect for national icons stems from RSS background”.

“It is a historical fact that RSS did not hoist the national flag at their headquarters in Nagpur for 52 long years after Independence. It is only after the Vajpayee government came to power in 2002, did they start hoisting the national flag,” AICC Communication Department Chief Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.

Alleging that the recent incident in Russia when the Prime Minister walked past the guard of honour even while the National Anthem was being played shows his “deliberate or inadvertent lack of respect for national icons”, the Congress leader insisted it is “not merely a protocol gaffe”.

“Modi signs on National Flag and violates Flag Code. Now walks away when Indian National Anthem is being played in Russia. Unprecedented!  “Nationalism BJP/Modi “Ishtyle”. Any comments from Modi Acolytes?” AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh tweeted.

Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said on Twitter,”Spending so much time abroad seems to have made PM forget what the Indian National Anthem sounds like. He walked in Moscow as Anthem played!” 

After former Law Minister and party spokesperson Ashwani Kumar said the nation is “shocked and deeply hurt” at the incident, Surjewala issued an official statement criticising the Prime Minister and suggesting a pattern behind what happened in Moscow.

“The recent futile attempt of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh to tinker with the national anthem is too fresh in people s mind to recount. The list is long. This unhealthy disrespect for national icons, be it symbols or personalities, stems from RSS background,” Surjewala said.