Savarkar, not Cong, first propagated partition idea, says Priyank Kharge

Taking strong exception to NCERT’s new module that blames the Congress for the country’s partition, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Priyank Kharge in his post on X, asserted that the idea was first proposed not by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Kharge’s post took aim at BJP’s version of nationalism, accusing it of ignoring what he called the ideological roots of Partition within Sangh Parivar.

“The idea of Two Nations was first floated by ‘Veer’ Savarkar and endorsed by his ‘tukde tukde gang,” he wrote.

‘Essentials of Hindutva’

Urging followers to “understand the chronology,” Kharge cited Savarkar’s 1922 book Essentials of Hindutva, where Hindutva was defined not by religion but by the idea of India as both “Fatherland and Holyland”.

He pointed to Savarkar’s 1937 speech at the Hindu Mahasabha’s 19th session in Ahmedabad, where he declared, “There are two antagonistic nations living side by side in India…” There are two nations in the main: the Hindus and the Moslems in India.”

Kharge argued that it was only three years later, in 1940, that Jinnah and the All India Muslim League formally adopted the two-nation theory through the Lahore Resolution.

He cited Savarkar’s 1943 speech in Nagpur: “I have no quarrel with Mr Jinnah’s two-nation theory”.

To support his point, Kharge quoted Dr B R Ambedkar: “Strange as it may appear, Mr Savarkar and Mr Jinnah… are in complete agreement… They differ only as regards the terms.”