Gandhi assassination: Congress cites Nehru, Patel's 1948 letters to Mookerjee slamming Hindu Mahasabha, RSS
Jairam Ramesh shares the content of letters written before and after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination
On Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled two separate letters written in 1948 to Syama Prasad Mookerjee by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in which they strongly criticised and raised questions over the activities of the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS.
The Congress general secretary in-charge of communications said two days before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, Nehru had written to Mookerjee, and a few months later, on July 18, 1948, Sardar Patel had also written to Mookerjee.
"Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism. And to think that there is a Lok Sabha MP wedded to that ideology and who was blessed by the PM himself, who said that he could not choose between Gandhi and Godse. His mindset is revealing," Ramesh said on X, in an apparent reference to BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay's controversial remarks in 2024.
Ramesh also shared a link to Nehru's address on All India Radio on the night of January 30, 1948, after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.
In his letter to Mookerjee, Nehru had said the Hindu Mahasabha had held meetings in defiance of the ban order in Pune, Ahmednagar and Delhi.
"Speeches were delivered that Mahatma Gandhi was an impediment and the sooner he died the better it would be for the country. The RSS has behaved in an even worse way and we have collected a mass of information about its very objectionable activities...," Nehru had said in his letter.
Ramesh also shared a screenshot of Patel's letter to Mookerjee in which the former criticised the activities of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha.
Gandhi, the most prominent face of India's freedom movement, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948.
Two days before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, Jawaharlal Nehru had written to Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
A few months later, on July 18 1948, Sardar Patel had also written to Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism.… pic.twitter.com/xnw0TBaVhC
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 30, 2026
'Gandhi is not just a person, but a way of thinking': Rahul
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on Friday. PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Mahatma Gandhi is not just a person, but a way of thinking that an empire, an ideology of hatred and arrogance of power unsuccessfully tried to erase at different points in time.
Terming Mahatma Gandhi the "immortal soul of India", the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha paid tributes to the Father of the Nation on his death anniversary, saying that along with Independence, he gave the nation a fundamental principle that the power of truth is greater than the power of authority.
"Mahatma Gandhi is not just a person, but a way of thinking that an empire, an ideology of hatred, and an arrogance of power have all unsuccessfully tried to erase at different points in time," he said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The Father of the Nation gave us, along with Independence, the fundamental principle that the power of truth is greater than the power of authority and that non-violence and courage are greater than violence and fear," Rahul Gandhi said.
This way of thinking cannot be extinguished, because Gandhi is immortal in the soul of India, he added.
Rahul Gandhi also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Smriti at Tees January Marg here on Martyrs' Day, remembering the life and sacrifice of the Father of the Nation.
Sharing lines of a Bhajan that Mahatma Gandhi used to sing, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The hatred that separated us from Bapu, its solution also lies in Bapu's path. The light of truth, the power of non-violence, and the compassion of love. Homage to the Father of the Nation on Martyr's Day." Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary.
