BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary CT Ravi on Thursday courted controversy by asking the Congress party to open a hookah bar in their head office in Karnataka capital Bengaluru and rename it as Nehru hookah bar.
Ravi, who was speaking with regard to the “renaming” controversy behind Indira canteens in the state, said the Congress under Siddaramaiah had named the canteens as Indira canteens for political reasons only.
“If they want to do politics, then let them open a bar, a hookah bar, in their office and rename it as the Nehru hookah bar. We cannot entertain politics when it comes to public spaces,” he said.
The former Karnataka minister had started the debate of renaming the Indira canteens as Annapoorneshwari canteens in the state, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the renaming of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awards.
Prior to his statement on Thursday, Ravi had even tweeted about the renaming and said the Gandhis had renamed almost all public spaces except for public toilets in the country.
“The only places where names of the Nehru dynasty are missing are the public toilets. Why aren't Congress governments naming them?” he asked sarcastically.
Meanwhile, reacting to the statement of Ravi, opposition leader Siddaramaiah chided the BJP national general secretary by stating that the Chikmagalur MLA had no knowledge of history and the sacrifices which Nehru had made towards the freedom struggle.
“Ravi should act his position. He is a national general secretary for the BJP and should be responsible when he speaks about someone. We cannot and will never speak ill of leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. Ravi needs to learn history and accord respect,” said Siddaramaiah.
Ravi’s statement came barely a day after RDPR minister KS Eshwarappa had called Congress leaders names.
