The Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Kerala’s Palakkad for the upcoming Assembly polls, E Sreedharan, responded to criticism he faced when images of voters washing and touching his feet went viral on social media.
Reacting to the criticism, the 88-year-old Sreedharan politician said that the images were clicked when he was welcomed in a traditional way by voters. "It is our Indian tradition. What is wrong with it? They were expressing their respect. They were not worshipping (me),” he said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Binoy Viswam criticised Sreedharan and said, "He is saying it is Indian tradition. This is an example of the direction in which the BJP is taking our country, the political system and democratic values," he told reporters.
The CPI leader said that India had looked at Sreedharan as "a torchbearer of modern technology", but he changed after entering into the "prison of the politics of the BJP and RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)".
Responding to the critics, Sreedharan slammed them and said, “There was no ‘adharma’ ( lack of propriety) in the act. If I say ‘namasthe’ to another person, is there any ‘adharma’ in it. The children were only showing their respect towards me. Can those people who were finding fault with traditions and culture, be called Indians?”
Launching his campaign earlier this week, Sreedharan had said that the BJP is fighting the polls on the plank of development.
Sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of the Congress and the CPI(M)'s CP Pramod are his main rivals in the election. He had joined the BJP on 25 February. “A great day for Kerala, which looks forward to politics based on a development agenda. Welcome, BJP Metro Man,” the party’s Kerala handle had tweeted then.
(With inputs from PTI)
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