The alleged deliberate omission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture from the venue of the Ayurveda Day celebrations held on September 23 in Tiruvananthapuram led to a protest by BJP leader and Tiruvananthapuram Mayor V.V. Rajesh, who was the Chief Guest at the programme. Rajesh expressed his dissatisfaction with the organisers and left the venue.
The state-level inauguration of the 11th Ayurveda Day was organised under the auspices of the Kerala Government Ayush Department, National Ayush Mission and Directorate of Ayurveda Medical Education (DAME). The Health Department’s official press release said that Health Minister K. Muraleedharan was scheduled to inaugurate.
It is reported that Mayor V.V. Rajesh had expressed another protest. It was reportedly due to the minister’s failure to keep time.
The Ayurveda Day celebration is a national-level programme. That is why the absence of the Prime Minister has become controversial. Moreover, the Union Government does a lot to promote various projects in the Ayush sector. Naturally, the issue has become controversial.
Deliberately avoiding the Prime Minister’s picture at the venue has been a fashion and passion for the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government headed by CPM supremo Pinarayi Vijayan. It was implemented in several programmes where the Prime Minister’s picture was mandatory. Inauguration of centrally funded roads and bridges are some of them.
It is argued that these kinds of deliberate acts are to promote anti-Delhi politics, particularly when the NDA-led BJP is at the Centre, and mislead the public with the perception that whatever is happening is being executed by state governments, thereby deceiving the people.
In 2024, the LDF government rejected the Centre’s directive to display posters, photos, selfie points and banners of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in front of all ration shops in the state, saying it was ‘difficult to implement’.
Now, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government appears to be following the same practice adopted by the LDF. Such actions raise questions about democratic norms and could also affect the smooth functioning of Centre-state relations.
