By IANS
New Delhi : The Congress Thursday took strong exception to a poster showing party president Sonia Gandhi as goddess Durga in the party office in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, and has ordered an inquiry.
Coming close on the heels of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists depicting Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and top party leaders as gods, the Congress quickly moved into damage control mode, with Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi telling reporters: "We have ordered an enquiry and would expel those involved in it."
Moradabad district party president A.S. Soni had said the "work of art" was created by a painter who hung the "sample piece" on a wall in the party office during the recent assembly elections and asked party workers to contact him for more such paintings, if required.
"There is no objection to it since it is a work of art," Soni said when asked why it was still there.
However, former MP and veteran Congress leader Hafiz Siddique did not buy Soni's argument. "This picture is objectionable as we cannot accept Sonia Gandhi in such a portrayal. In fact nobody can accept such things as the Congress party is a secular organisation and we are condemning this," he said.
He also said he was surprised by the episode, which was happening for the first time in the party.
City president of the party, Asad Moulaei, echoed a similar view and said that followers of the party comprised members from different religions. He condemned the portrayal of the leader as a Hindu goddess.
Former MP and once in-charge of party affairs here, Pawan Ghatwar, termed the portrayal as unfortunate. "No politicians must be portrayed as gods," he said.