SILCHAR, April 11� The Congress party has criticised the move by Niharendra Narayan Thakur, the new chairperson of Silchar Municipal Board to put out of place the portrait of Nobel laureate Mother Teresa from his chamber. It is to be mentioned that after assuming office, Thakur had removed the portrait of Mother Teresa and replaced it with the images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shyamaprasad Mookherjee.
Alleging this to be a communal move by the chairman, the Congress commissioners on Thursday said that Thakur has acted against the integrity of the nation. Alok Kar, the leader of the floor in the Board for the Congress said that the Thakur- led BJP board has sparked a controversy by replacing Teresa�s image as the Mother is a symbol of inspiration for the Indians. The Congress commissioners also gheraoed the Chairman demanding a reply of his action.
When asked about what led him to take out Teresa�s image, Thakur claimed that Rabindra Nath Tagore, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, President of India Pranab Mukherjee are an asset to the nation. But Mother Teresa does not sync with the Indian culture and hence the image cannot be kept alongside the great Indians. � I am clear about my actions and I do not think Mother Teresa�s portrait image fits into the scheme of things here,� the chairman maintained. On the allegations of divisive politics by the Congress, Thakur said that the hullabaloo is because of the fact that images of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, former Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala and former SMB chairperson Susmita Dev have been removed from the office.
