2 min readNew DellhiFeb 5, 2020 01:55 AM IST
First published on: Feb 5, 2020 at 01:55 AM IST
Anantkumar Hegde.
Karnataka BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde, who has sparked a controversy with his alleged comments on Mahatma Gandhi and the non-cooperation movement during the freedom struggle, has told the party leadership that he did not mention Gandhi or Quit India Movement in his speech, and that the controversial remarks attributed to him were “incorrect”, it is learnt.
Sources in the BJP said Hegde, a former Union Minister, sent a reply to party president J P Nadda and the party’s disciplinary committee following the party’s showcause notice to him on Monday.
Sources said the party leadership will study his reply and decide on further action, if any.
There is a view in the party that what Hegde said might be in bad taste but the content was distorted in some media reports, a senior BJP leader said.
In his explanation, Hegde is learnt to have claimed that he did not use words like “nautanki” or “drama” to describe the freedom struggle led by Gandhi. He is learnt to have informed the party that he had said non-cooperation movement was not the only form of struggle that got India freedom.
Addressing a public event in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada constituency was quoted as saying, “Some people keep saying we got Independence because someone sat on satyagraha. The British gave Independence out of sheer frustration. On reading history books, my blood boils. Such people are termed ‘Mahatma’ in our country.”
Hegde, who has over time drawn criticism for his controversial comments, including one praising Nathuram Godse, also purportedly said on Saturday that the freedom movement was “one big drama.” He was quoted as saying: “None of these ‘leaders’ were beaten up by the police even once. The freedom movement by itself was one big drama. It was staged with the approval of the British.”
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Anantkumar Hegde.
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