Environment minister Bhupender Yadav stoked controversy in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after he said the ‘sengol was treated like a “walking stick” by the Congress, instead of a symbol of justice, drawing protests from opposition MPs.
“They are not telling where it [the Sengol] was for 75 years,” Yadav said.
Congress’s Jairam Ramesh retorted by saying, “This narrative about the sengol is a story they have spread, it is not history. This was never handed over formally. Some people came and gave it and these people [the BJP] created a new story about it.”
“This is not a story, this is history.” BJP president and Union health minister JP Nadda retorted, claiming that at the time of Independence, Mountbatten had asked if there was a ritual related to the handover of power practised in India, to which Nehru apparently said no.
“When it was eventually transferred to a museum, it was labelled, ‘Jawaharlal Nehru’s walking stick’,” Nadda claimed.
Congress’s Rajeev Shukla, who was chairing the house at the time, asked Nadda to authenticate his claims in writing.
{{/usCountry}}Congress’s Rajeev Shukla, who was chairing the house at the time, asked Nadda to authenticate his claims in writing.
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