Cong, BJP spar over Sardar Patel’s legacy
WAR OF WORDS PM accuses the previous govt of sidelining the leader
NEW DELHI: Sardar Patel’s 142nd birth anniversary on Tuesday saw the Congress and BJP again sparring over his legacy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Congress of sidelining Patel.
Flagging off the ‘Run for Unity’ in New Delhi to commemorate Sardar Vallabhbhai PatelPatel’s birth anniversary, Modi said: “People earlier tried their best to ensure that the contribution of Sardar Patel was forgotten and diminished.”
“But when the nation gave us a chance to serve it, we made it a point to celebrate his legacy in a special way so that his contributions are remembered by generations,” Modi added.
The Congress, while remembering Patel, quoted his remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of the ruling BJP, in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by Nathuram Godse, who was a former active RSS member and known to be close to RSS ideologue VD Savarkar.
The Congress tweeted a picture of Patel and his remarks against RSS: “The speeches of the Sangh (RSS) leaders are poisonous. It is as a result of this venom that Mahatma Gandhi has been assassinated.”
Patel, as the then home minister, had banned the RSS after Gandhi’s assassination.
“Remembering Iron Leader Sardar Patel, whose uncompromising efforts were instrumental in keeping India united after Independence,” the Congress tweeted on its official handle.
In another tweet, the Congress quoted Patel’s another remark he made after Gandhi’s death: “The activities of RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of the government and state.” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in his tribute to Patel, said: “An embodiment of integrity and strength, Sardar Patel was one of the architects of the Idea of India. My tributes to him on his birth anniversary.”