Mangaluru : The decision not to select a tableau proposed by the Kerala Government that contained a statue of social reformer Narayana Guru for the Republic Day Parade is purely of the Defence Ministry’s and it is being unnecessarily politicised to show the Bharatiya Janata Party in poor light, said district BJP president Sudershan Moodbidri.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Sudershan said that an elaborate process is followed by the Expert Committee of the Defence Ministry in selection of floats. And, this is in compliance with norms that have already been laid down. “The process involves only selection of floats and there is no rejection. This decision should not be politicised,” he said.

The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are unnecessarily politicising the non-selection of the Kerala Government’s float for their political gain. Coming hard on the Congress, Mr. Moodbidri said that the Congress leaders have no moral right to question the BJP as their party has defamed many religious leaders and places of worship in the past.

While the ruling CPI(M) government in Kerala is projecting the incident as defamation of Narayana Guru, Mr. Moodbidri said that organisations such as Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana Yogam and Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, which follow Narayana Guru, have so far not said a word about it.

Narayana Guru is a highly regarded social reformer and Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to keep him in high esteem, Mr. Moodbidri said.