New Delhi:
The warzone between the Congress and the BJP has a new political marker: the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The Congress has launched a high-decibel campaign, accusing the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, of trying to appropriate a lifelong Congressman. The BJP says the Congress has not honoured the stature of an iconic leader from Gujarat who served as India's first Home Minister.
Today, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma sent a caustic letter to Mr Modi, rejecting his invite to attend a ceremony on Thursday that will launch the construction of a massive statue of Sardar Patel. Mr Modi has vowed it shall be the world's largest.
Mr Sharma in his note accuses the BJP leader of "misusing the name of Sardar for political propaganda." He adds, "It is rather odd that you have attempted to brazenly usurp the rich legacy of Sardar Patel whose approach and beliefs militate against all that is personified by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), whose nominee you are." The RSS is the BJP's ideological mentor. (Read the full letter here)
The tug-of-war over Sardar Patel peaked last week after a newspaper quoted Mr Modi as saying that Sardar Patel's funeral in 1950 was not attended by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted videos that countered that claim. Mr Modi today tweeted that the newspaper has accepted that it misquoted him.
But the controversy is still ticking. Union minister Manish Tewari today said that Sardar Patel had in a letter in 1948 linked the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in January that year to the communal politics of the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.
Mr Tewari said, "I want to ask the BJP or their newly anointed pretender - do they endorse or agree with the views of Sardar Patel with regard to the RSS...?"
The Congress has launched a high-decibel campaign, accusing the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, of trying to appropriate a lifelong Congressman. The BJP says the Congress has not honoured the stature of an iconic leader from Gujarat who served as India's first Home Minister.
Today, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma sent a caustic letter to Mr Modi, rejecting his invite to attend a ceremony on Thursday that will launch the construction of a massive statue of Sardar Patel. Mr Modi has vowed it shall be the world's largest.
Mr Sharma in his note accuses the BJP leader of "misusing the name of Sardar for political propaganda." He adds, "It is rather odd that you have attempted to brazenly usurp the rich legacy of Sardar Patel whose approach and beliefs militate against all that is personified by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), whose nominee you are." The RSS is the BJP's ideological mentor. (Read the full letter here)
The tug-of-war over Sardar Patel peaked last week after a newspaper quoted Mr Modi as saying that Sardar Patel's funeral in 1950 was not attended by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted videos that countered that claim. Mr Modi today tweeted that the newspaper has accepted that it misquoted him.
But the controversy is still ticking. Union minister Manish Tewari today said that Sardar Patel had in a letter in 1948 linked the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in January that year to the communal politics of the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.
Mr Tewari said, "I want to ask the BJP or their newly anointed pretender - do they endorse or agree with the views of Sardar Patel with regard to the RSS...?"
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