Kharge's pic missing from Cong poster during Goa Statehood Day celebration; BJP slams party

Panaji: The Goa Congress is facing criticism for failing to include a photo of its national president Mallikarjun Kharge in a banner put up during the Statehood Day celebration last week. While the Congress claimed Kharge's picture was "erroneously" left out from the banner, the ruling BJP alleged the opposition party "humiliated its Dalit president". The state Congress had organised a meeting in Panaji on the occasion of Goa Statehood Day on May 30, after it cancelled a public meeting scheduled at Navelim (in South Goa) where Kharge was supposed to be present.

A banner during the event carried pictures of senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Goa party chief Amit Patkar and Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, but Kharge's photo was missing. The Goa BJP posted a photo of the banner on its X handle on Saturday along with a message claiming the Congress has "humiliated their Dalit president." "Mallikarjun Kharge's photo deliberately left out from Congress' official Goa Statehood Day banner - a snub to the party's own national president?," the BJP added. When contacted, state Congress chief Patkar claimed Kharge's picture was "erroneously" left out from the poster. "If you check all other posters which we had put up across the city, his picture is there," he told media. "This is a small error. Why are you making an issue out of it? We are raising more serious issues against the BJP," Patkar added.