'RSS pracharak' Kalyan Singh trying to divide people: Brinda Karat

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday said Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has insulted Rabindranath Tagore by demanding the word 'adhinayak' be omitted from the national anthem, and added, that he sounded like a RSS 'pracharak'.

"Usually, a governor is expected to be cautious about his public statements, and remember, he is in a constitutional post, and the way our governor has spoken about our national anthem and insulted the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, he is speaking like a RSS pracharak," she said.

"These are the people whose leaders went and asked for forgiveness from the British rulers. Rabindranath Tagore, when this was put to him, he strongly refuted it and he said this is an insult to me and an insult to all Indians to even suggest that I have written a poem in praise of the British monarch, and to raise this now, these people are only trying to divide people," she added.

Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh had earlier said that the word "adhinayak" in the national anthem should be omitted and replaced with the word "mangal" as the word "adhinayak" signifies the British empire.