Shashi Tharoor, a leader in the Congress, stated on Sunday, May 28, that there are valid reasons on both sides (the Centre and the Congress) in the continuing discussion regarding the placement of Sengol in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building.
However, he advised against claiming that Lord Mountbatten gave the golden sceptre to former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to signify the transfer of power. He claimed that there was ‘no proof’ for the claim and that removing it might help to end the argument.
Taking to Twitter, Tharoor wrote, ‘The government rightly argues that the sceptre reflects a continuity of tradition by embodying sanctified sovereignty and the rule of dharma. The Opposition rightly argues that the Constitution was adopted in the name of the people and that sovereignty abides in the people of India as represented in their Parliament, and is not a kingly privilege handed down by divine right.’
According to Tharoor, the Sengol should be placed within the Parliament to signify that the sovereignty rests there and not with any one monarch, rather than being associated with Nehru.
The controversy around Sengol has caused conflict between the BJP and the Congress. The Sengol was disparaged by the Congress on Friday by ‘keeping it in a dark corner and calling it a stick of Nehru ji,’ according to BJP leader Smriti Irani.
Prior to then, a prominent member of the Congress, Jairam Ramesh, stated that there was no proof to support the idea that the Sengol represented the British transfer of sovereignty from India to Britain. Claims to this effect were deemed ‘bogus’ by the senior Congress leader.
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