Union Minister Prahlad Patel accuses Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of insulting national flag

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New Delhi: Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel on Thursday (May 27, 2021) wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal alleging that in the recent addresses made by the Delhi CM the green stripes in the flags displayed in the background were distorted and enlarged, while the white central stripes reduced.

Union Culture and Tourism Minister accused the Delhi CM of disrespecting the national flag and stating that these were violations of the Flag Code of India.

In his letter addressed to Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Prahlad Singh Patel said, "Whenever Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a televised briefing, my attention is often drawn to the national flag behind his chair... it is in violation of the Constitution. The national flag has been used for the purpose of decoration."

"The middle (the white portion) seems to get cut by the green stripe, which is enlarged. This is not in accordance with Home Ministry rules on the depiction of the national flag. I want to bring this to the attention of the respected Chief Minister, who has ignored this - either consciously or subconsciously," he added.

This letter comes on the same day when Delhi Chief Minister made a televised appeal to the central government to procure the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible to inoculate children. 

Meanwhile, India on Friday recorded over 1.86 lakh new cases of coronavirus infections across the country in the past 24 hours. The cumulative caseload now stands at 2,75,55,457, out of which 3,18,895 have succumbed to the disease, while 2,48,93,410 patients have recovered in the country so far.