Freedom struggle led by Gandhi was “staged drama,” says BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde

February 3: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anantkumar Hegde claimed the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi as “drama” and said his “blood boiled” when he read history and “such people came to be called Mahatma”. The six-time Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada said the Congress always overrated Gandhi’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle. “These Congress people keep saying that we got independence because of the fast-unto-death or satyagraha,” he said. “That is not true. The British did not leave India because of satyagraha.”

While addressing a public event in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada said the entire freedom movement was “staged with the consent and support of the British”. He claimed the Britishers only “gave independence” out of frustration. “My blood boils when I read history. Such people become Mahatma in our country,” he added. Hedge also claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological mentor, had nothing to do with Gandhi’s assassination.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said in a tweet, “Mahatma Gandhi does not need a certificate from cadre of Britishers ‘chamchas and spies. It is high time the BJP is renamed ‘Nathuram Godse Party.” His remarks on Mahatama Gandhi have been criticised by his grandson Tushar Gandhi. “Hegde is correct in saying Bapu’s Freedom Fight was a drama. It was so intense that it opened the eyes of the British to their immoral colonisation and enslavement of India,” Tushar Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

BJP leaders too found it difficult to defend Hegde on the controversial remarks. The Karnataka unit of the saffron party, however, distanced itself from Hegde’s comments. State BJP spokesperson G Madhusudhan said the RSS holds Gandhi in high esteem and will never support such “cheap remarks”, reported News18. Senior leader Jagdambika pal was cautious in his defence and said, “The whole world knows about Gandhi and it may be his personal opinion.” As per reports, the ruling BJP has asked its MP Anantkumar Hegde to put out an unconditional apology for his remarks.