'Was Nehru a sportsman?': Muraleedharan hits out at controversy over RGSB campus name

As the controversy of naming the second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGSB) took centre stage in Kerala, the top brass of the BJP from Kerala has come in support of the move by the union government.

Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan when asked about the logic behind dedicating the name to the RSS ideologue, shot back asking whether Nehru was a sportsman to dedicate the Annual Snake Boat race in his name. "Which sports was Nehru associated with to give him this honour?" he asked.

He also pointed out that many institutions are named after Indira Gandhi as well. Defending the move of the centre, Muraleedharan said M S Gowalikar was a Zoology professor in the University of Benaras and that he has faced the British onslaught and even faced imprisonment under sedition law during the colonial rule. He also pointed out so many institutions are named after communist leaders as well. "What is wrong in naming an institute after a true patriot?" he asked.

The issue of naming had come to the limelight after Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had made an announcement to name the second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology to 'Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Centre for Complex Disease in Cancer and Viral Infection.

He made this, during the curtain-raiser session of the sixth edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF). The new campus which is being built at Cheruvikkal village which is about 15 kilometres from the old campus in Thiruvananthapuram was sanctioned three years ago. The centre is aimed to be a pioneer in research and development of complex diseases including cancer and viral infections.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had shot a letter to Harsh Vardhan suggesting that the second campus may be named after some eminent Indian scientist of international repute. Many leaders in the state including Mullakkara Retnakaran (CPI) even suggested it dedicate the institute in the name of Dr Palpu, an ardent disciple of reformer-sage Sri Narayana Guru who was also a bacteriologist. 

The last talking point before Local body elections

Leaders of the ruling LDF and opposition UDF have begun using this issue as a political tool to amass votes to their bank citing that the RSS is giving undue importance to a 'controversial and communal figure'. The election campaigns will draw to a close in southern districts by today and BJP state president K Surendran has pointed out that both the Left and Congress is trying to paint BJP as communal. "Both the parties' know they are going to lose elections. This is their desperate attempt to whip a communal discord," he said while addressing media in Thiruvananthapuram.

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Image Credits: PTI