New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit back at Home Minister Amit Shah for his attack on India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying the BJP leader probably does not know history and “keeps rewriting” it.
Gandhi also said the whole matter was about distracting from the issue of caste census and in whose hands the country’s money is going.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Shah had blamed Nehru for the Kashmir problem, pointing to the “mistakes” of ordering an “untimely” ceasefire and taking the issue to the United Nations.
Asked about Shah’s remarks, Gandhi said, “Pandit Nehru dedicated his life for this country. He was in jail for years, Amit Shah ji probably does not know history. I don’t expect that he would know history as he keeps rewriting history.”
“This is all about distraction, basic issue is of caste census and participation, in whose hands is the money of the country going. They (BJP) don’t want to discuss this issue, they are afraid of it and run away from it,” the former Congress president told reporters outside Parliament.
He said Congress will take forward this issue and ensure that poor people get their rights.
Asked about the BJP making tribal and OBC CMs in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said, “Ours was also an OBC (CM in Chhattisgarh), they have also made OBC (CM in Madhya Pradesh), that is not the issue. The question is what is the participation (of OBCs) within the structure.”
“The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is an OBC but the government is run by 90 officers. Out of the 90 officers, three are OBCs and their office is in the corner. My point is what is the participation of OBCs in the institutional system, what is the participation of Dalits, Adivasis, that is the main question before the country,” he said.
Gandhi alleged that to distract from the main issue, the BJP would speak about Nehru or someone else at another time. The issue is about participation, he added.
Shah on Tuesday attacked the opposition, saying it is unable to see the change on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370 and claimed the entire country has understood that it was Nehru’s “mistakes” on Kashmir that led to the suffering of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
