Drama in Madhya Pradesh assembly over removal of Nehru’s portrait; Congress blames BJP

The newly elected Madhya Pradesh assembly has courted controversy after the Congress blamed the BJP for removing the portrait of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and replacing it with one of Dr BR Ambedkar, known as the father of Indian Constitution. 

Congress, which recently lost the assembly election in the central Indian state, said it was a laudable move that Ambedkar's portrait was installed but it shouldn't have come at the cost of Nehru's omission. 

"If the BJP had honest intentions, it could have placed the photo of Nehru along with Gandhi and Ambedkar. But it is the culture of the BJP to disrespect the freedom fighters and the nation-builder and therefore, it has removed the photo of Nehru," the Madhya Pradesh Congress posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

While Congress played the blame game, Assembly Principal Secretary AP Singh informed that the portrait was removed as it was in bad condition. 

"The then Speaker Girish Gautam had directed to replace the portrait (of Nehru) in the last session in July as it was very old and getting worn out," Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

"As Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary was being observed at that time, the speaker directed to put his portrait in place of Nehru and also ensured that Nehru's portrait was kept in a respectful manner in the Gandhi-Nehru section of the library," Singh said, adding that it was a short session and Congress members may not have noticed the change back then. 

The first session of the assembly began on Monday with pro tem speaker Gopal Bhargava in charge of the House. The four-day session commenced a week after BJP won the state yet again. 

In the just concluded elections, BJP roared back to power in the state despite strong anti-incumbency. The BJP won 163 seats which was more than double the number of seats of Congress.

Three-time Ujjain South MLA Mohan Yadav was crowned the chief minister, replacing old workhorse Shivraj Singh Chouhan who had been at the helm of state politics for nearly two decades. 

Yadav was a cabinet minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. He became MLA for the first time from Ujjain South seat in 2013. In the 2018 assembly elections, he was again elected from the same seat.

The party also announced that Jagdish Devda and Rajendra Shukla will be the two Deputy CMs in the state. 

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, BJP emerged victorious in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, defying several opinion and exit polls.