No Nehru-Gandhi eulogising, DD shows archival footage of Veer Savarkar & Shyama Prasad Mookerjee

NEW DELHI: PM Modi’s first I-day speech was strong on symbolisms that sought to replace the Nehruvian tradition with the Hindutva model.

At national broadcaster Doordarshan, the tone was set early when it ran a programme showing archival footage of RSS icon Veer Savarkar and Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of Jan Sangh, the predecessor of BJP. This marked a departure from the past where Doordarshan would stick to eulogizing those members of the Nehru-Gandhi family who became Prime Ministers.

The national song Vande Mataram, although played in Parliament at the end of each session, is normally kept away from public functions since it is considered a Hindu hymn. But Modi’s Independence Day speech ended with the chant.

Today’s celebrations were not an exception but a continuation of the process that began soon after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in May like setting up a dedicated ministry to clean the holy river Ganga to setting up a panel to find the source of the mythical Saraswati river.

The first budget of the BJP government had also launched a slew of welfare schemes that carry the names of Mookerji and ideologues Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Madan Mohan Malviya.