Amid Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, BJP calls Jawaharlal Nehru 'grandfather of Partition'; Congress responds

As Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" entered the second day in Karnataka, the State unit of the BJP put out an ad in some Kannada newspapers which read, "Can the great-grandson unite what the "grandfather of India's Partition" did?".

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has irked Congress after it put up front page advertisements in a few vernacular dailies in Karnataka, calling former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru the "grandfather" of India's Partition. As Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" entered the second day in Karnataka on Saturday (October 1, 2022), the State unit of the BJP put out an ad in some Kannada newspapers which read, "Can the great-grandson unite what the "grandfather of India's Partition" did?". With a map of India and divided Pakistan and Bangladesh in the middle of Nehru's and Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah's photographs on either side, the advertisement painted in black said, "Can the unity of India possible from a party, which caused the bloodbath of the citizens only to come to power?".

Congress, however, took strong exception to the accusation and said that the right wing has always been on the "wrong side" of history.

"The BJP gave the advertisement. The right-wing ideology has always been on the wrong side of history. Since they could not write history, they are trying to rewrite history," Congress leader Pawan Khera said.

He further alleged that the two-nation theory was first mooted by the Hindu Maha Sabha in its Ahmedabad convention in 1937, which was presided over by Hindutva ideologue Savarkar.

In 1942, the founder of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah repeated the same in the Lahore convention of the Muslim League, Khera added.

LIVE: Joint press briefing by Ex-Karnataka CM Shri @siddaramaiah, KPCC President Shri @DKShivakumar, Chairman, Media & Publicity, AICC Shri @Pawankhera & Chairman, Communications, KPCC Shri @PriyankKharge on #BharatJodoYatra. https://t.co/ncjQhzHxWq — Congress (@INCIndia) October 1, 2022

In 1942 when the Congress left all the provincial governments in protest and to participate in the Quit India movement, the Sabha joined hands in alliance with the Muslim League in three provincial Assemblies -- West Bengal, NWFP and Sindh where the first resolution for Pakistan was passed, he claimed.

"I challenge them (right wing) that they were in alliance with the Muslim League and they did not stop it. It's clear who partitioned India. They (BJP) are talking to a person whose grandmother divided Pakistan. They (BJP) don't know the history before 1947 and 1971. They don't know their own history," the Congresss leader said.

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah also attacked the saffron camp and said that they are teaching history to those who brought Independence.

"Which party united all the provinces and made one nation? It's Congress. Which RSS leader participated in the freedom struggle? Did RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar or the second Sarsangh Chalak Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar participate in the freedom struggle? Has anybody from RSS died in the freedom struggle? Now, these people are taking history lessons for the Congress," he said.

Meanwhile, the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' led by Rahul Gandhi entered its second day in Karnataka on Saturday.

LIVE: Bharat Jodo Yatra | Tondavadi Gate to Thandavapura | Chamarajanagara to Mysuru | Karnataka https://t.co/y548bNFyLj — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 1, 2022

The leader will spend 21 days covering 511 km in the state during his march, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7 to Jammu on January 30, 2023.