Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over the omission of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from a Karnataka government Independence Day advertisement in leading newspapers. He said BJP and RSS were trying to distort history and spreading misinformation on India’s freedom struggle.
“They do not know history and are trying to distort it. Did [Nehru] not take part in the freedom struggle? Did [BJP leader] Eshwarappa go to jail during the freedom struggle or the chief minister [Basavaraj Bommai]...Removing Nehru’s picture from the freedom fighters list is not an insult to Nehru, but to the entire country and all freedom fighters,” Siddaramaiah said.
The comments came on the day the BJP’s state government faced criticism for leaving out the picture of Nehru from the advertisement and including that of right-wing ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Siddaramaiah linked the omission to a hidden agenda as RSS did not take part in the freedom struggle. “Did RSS or BJP take part in the freedom struggle?”
BJP leader Ravi Kumar said that they deliberately left out Nehru’s picture as he was responsible for India’s partition.
{{/usCountry}}BJP leader Ravi Kumar said that they deliberately left out Nehru’s picture as he was responsible for India’s partition.
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