Gandhi wanted Cong disbanded in ’47: Modi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 12

On a day the Congress kicked off its 2019 Lok Sabha campaign from his home turf Gujarat with a working committee meeting in Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleague Arun Jaitley took to their blogs to take on the grand old party.

Marking the anniversary of the iconic Dandi March launched by Mahatma Gandhi and 80 “satyagrahis” in 1930 on the day, the Prime Minister told the nation that the Father of the Nation wanted to disband the grand old party just after Independence. The Congress was nothing but “the perfect antithesis to what ‘Bapu’ stood for”, he said.

Hailing Gandhi, whose “handful of salt shook the British Empire” as he set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, Modi said: “Though aimed at protesting unfair Salt Laws, Dandi March shook the foundations of colonial rule and became a strong symbol of fighting injustice and inequality.”

“Did you know who had a key role in the planning of the Dandi March,” he questioned. “The great Sardar Patel”, who had a key role in planning “every minute aspect” of the 390-km March, “down to the last detail”, he wrote.

He then went on recall Gandhi’s words to a group of women workers: “Bapu said, I have been receiving complaints that some so called eminent leaders of India are making money through their sons, that nepotism is on the rise as also is corruption and that I should do something about it. If it is true all one can say is that we have reached the limit of our misfortune.”

“Bapu despised dynastic politics but the ‘Dynasty First’ is the way for the Congress today”. “Gandhi-ji had understood the Congress culture very well, which is why he wanted the Congress disbanded, especially after 1947,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jaitley in his blog asserted that the country was safe and secure under the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Modi and accused the Congress of weakening the fight against jehadi terrorists.

At a time when India is battling ultra-Left and jehadi terrorists, facing with serious threat of cross border terrorism, Jaitley wondered if electorate could trust those who have weakened the fight against terrorism.

‘Cong disturbed at proactive approach’

The Congress does not oppose the idea of a proactive approach in destroying terror at its point of origin. It is disturbed with regard to the political fallout of this proactive approach on the image of PM Modi. — Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister