The statement of the Bharatiya Janata Party State president Mahendra Bhatt regarding the national flag has drawn criticism from various quarters.  Bhatt had said on Wednesday that the nation cannot trust those who would not unfurl tricolour at their homes.

Reacting to the statement made by the BJP State president, former chief minister and member of Congress Working Committee (CWC) Harish Rawat said that no one has the right to test anyone’s patriotism and love for the nation. Interacting with the media persons at his Rakhi Milan programme in Dehradun on Wednesday, the former CM said that he would request Bhatt to analyse things after which he will find many people near him who had never hoisted national flags in the past on their homes. Rawat also criticised Bhatt in his social media posts. “The new president of Uttarakhand BJP is a very humble person but his recent statement made me feel bad. In our country 42 crore people are living below the poverty line and there are 50-55 crore such persons who have to struggle to arrange two square meals in a day. From where would these people get the money to purchase the flag and its mast?,’’ Rawat wrote on his Facebook wall.

 The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara also questioned the State president of BJP for his statement. He said that the statement of Bhatt that the nation cannot trust those who would not unfurl the national flag is unfortunate. Launching a vitriolic attack on Bhatt,   the former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal said that the people of Uttarakhand are patriotic and if Bhatt really wants to know about the people who deliberately don’t hoist flags on their homes then he should go to RSS headquarters in Nagpur because he will find such persons there. Terming the statement of Bhatt as childish, Godiyal said that such a thing is not expected from someone who is heading a national party in the State.