A controversy was created by the former Union Minister Anatkumar Hedge on Saturday, 1st of February, 2020 during an event in Bengaluru when he said that the freedom movement lead by Mahatma Gandhi was a "Drama" “Not a genuine fight but an adjustment freedom struggle”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, 3rd of February, 2020 served a show cause notice to its Member of Parliament Anantkumar Hegde for comments against Mahatma Gandhi. Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel said the party has sought an explanation from Hegde on remarks made against Gandhi and the freedom movement.
The BJP said it does not approve of Anantkumar Hegde’s comments and that the issue will be referred to a disciplinary committee.
Adding to it, the BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde on Tuesday, 4th of February, 2020 refused to apologise for his remark on Mahatma Gandhi that has resulted in a political upheaval. Hegde said: "It is an unnecessary controversy. I own my statement made on February 1, 2020, in Bengaluru. I never made any reference to any political party or Mahatma Gandhi or anybody else, I was just trying to categorise freedom struggle. That's all"
The six-time Lok Sabha member’s remark came in for severe criticism from the opposition parties, including Congress which asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his stand clear on Hegde’s comments.
“The only way there can be some penance if the Prime Minister and the BJP government are sincere about commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation. This country needs an answer,” Anand Sharma, former Union Cabinet Minister in charge of Commerce and Industry and Textiles said during a press conference.
“Parliament is in session. We demand that the Prime Minister comes to the House and makes his position clear by tomorrow,” he said.
Furthermore, this is not the first time that Anantkumar Hegde has been at the centre of a controversy.
He had labelled former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer S Senthil as a traitor and asked him to “go to Pakistan”. He had also called Congress’ Karnataka unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao as somebody who “went after a Muslim lady”.
Author: Dyuti Pandya
