Kerala: Congress flag instead of tricolor hoisted at CPI(M) branch office on I-Day
Kochi (PTI): In an embarrassing mix-up, a CPI(M) branch committee in Eloor here has hoisted the Congress party's flag instead of the national flag during the Independence Day celebrations.
According to party sources, the incident occurred after an elderly local leader, who also serves as an office-bearer of the Left party's Senior Citizens' Forum, mistakenly took the Congress flag for the tricolour.
Several local leaders and members attended the function, a party leader said here on Wednesday, confirming the embarassing incident.
It was only after the hoisting that a participant pointed out the error, another leader said.
"The flag of the Congress party remained hoisted for hardly 10 minutes," he said, adding that it was immediately taken down.
However, photos and videos of the incident went viral on social media.
A senior CPI(M) district leader said he verified the incident and found it to be a genuine mistake.
"The leader concerned admitted that he had kept several party flags with him and accidentally mistook the Congress flag for the national flag. Considering his age and the circumstances, the party has decided not to take disciplinary action," the leader added.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
