Karnataka Congress, Billava leaders protest exclusion of Sri Narayana Guru tableau from R-Day parade

According to the BJP, Opposition parties are creating “unnecessary” controversies in the name of Narayana Guru. V Sunil Kumar, the state culture minister, accused the Kerala government of starting the controversy.

several Billava organisations have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused his government of “insulting” Narayana Guru. (File)

Former Union minister B Janardhana Poojary of the Congress has announced a procession on January 26 in Mangaluru to condemn the central government’s rejection of the tableau of the Kerala social reformer Sree Narayana Guru from the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

While the protest call has drawn support not only from the Opposition Congress and the CPI(M) but also the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the ruling BJP appeared worried over its implications in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, where people from Poojary’s Billava community are outraged at the exclusion of the tableau. The saffron party has a strong presence in these districts with considerable Billava populations.

Apart from political parties, several Billava organisations have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused his government of “insulting” Narayana Guru.

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Poojary, who will hold a procession with a portrait of Narayana Guru in Mangaluru on Republic Day, has also urged people to hold prayers on the day.

However, according to the BJP, Opposition parties are creating “unnecessary” controversies in the name of Narayana Guru. V Sunil Kumar, the state culture minister, accused the Kerala government of starting the controversy.

“All states and Union Territories send proposals for tableaus every year but only 12 state tableaux are considered for the Republic Day parade. The tableaux from all the states participate once in three years. The tableau from Kerala had taken part in 2018 and 2021. As per this tradition, 12 states that had taken part in the parade last year were not given permission this year. Despite these facts, the Kerala government has started a controversy in the name of Narayana Guru,” he said recently.

Social Welfare Minister Kota Srinivasa Poojary, who is from the Billava community, attributed the exclusion of the Guru tableau to a “conspiracy hatched by” Kerala’s ruling CPI(M) and the Opposition Congress.

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