Barely days after it faced flak for displaying a painting of Jesus alongside Communist icons at an exhibition, the CPI(M) in Kerala has landed itself in another soup after a billboard carrying a political spoof, allegedly put up by party workers, raised hackles here.
The board, depicting US President Barack Obama at a table along with senior Congress and BJP leaders, was a takeoff on Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper, showing Jesus with his disciples.
The picture, titled The Last Supper of Capitalism, was put up at Thirkannapura area of the city.
When asked about the board, CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan claimed it was put up “without the knowledge of any responsible party functionary” and said his party had “no intention to belittle the ideals of Christ or Christianity”.
“The moment the matter came to the notice of the local party leaders, it was removed,” Mr Vijayan said.
Meanwhile, ruling UDF trained its guns on the CPI(M) for displaying pictures of Jesus Christ and episodes from the Bible as political material, terming them as “blasphemous and heretical.”
Chief minister Oommen Chandy said distorting The Last Supper for political purposes could be seen only as a “heretical act” and the party would have to face the consequences for hurting the sentiments of the believers.
State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala said there was no justification for “vulgarisation” of The Last Supper.
“Instead of trying to justify the fault, CPI(M) leaders should tender an unqualified apology to the people for hurting their sentiments,” Mr Chennithala said in a statement.
Alleging that there was an attempt to tarnish the image of the party, CPI(M) District Secretary Kadakampalli Surenderan said the party has filed a complaint with the police on the matter.
“The party suspects there is a conspiracy to soil its image,” he said.
The row over the politically-loaded board surfaced close on the heels of a heated debate sparked by the display of a picture of Jesus Christ in an exhibition organised by the party ahead of its state conference starting on Monday.
Reacting to the incident, the CPI(M) had defended itself saying Jesus was a “frontline soldier” for the liberation of the suppressed in human history.