BJP issues showcause notice to Hegde, Congress demands sedition case

A red-faced BJP on Monday issued a show-cause notice to former Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde, who triggered a controversy by claiming that the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi was “staged” and supported by the British.

The remarks by Hegde, the Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, come at a time when the Modi government is celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's 150th anniversary in a big way, prompting Congress and other opposition parties to demand the filing of a sedition case against him and an outright apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament.

Hegde's remarks left the top BJP leaders fuming, prompting the central BJP leadership to issue him a show-cause notice and also directed him to issue and apology.

“They are disparaging the national movement. If the prime minister and the BJP government are sincere about the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, we demand that the PM comes to Parliament and clarifies his position,” Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters here.

BJP members too disapproved of Hegde's remarks. “The whole world knows about Mahatma Gandhi and it may be his personal opinion,” BJP member Jagdambika Pal said when asked about Hegde's remarks.

Union Minister Ashwani Choubey said Hegde should have avoided making the comments as Mahatma Gandhi is a respected figure across the nation.

Hegde has been a repeat offender. In the previous government, the then Union Minister Hegde had kicked off a row claiming that the Modi government would re-write the Constitution, remarks that sent BJP scurrying for cover.

Hegde, then a junior minister for skill development, was dropped from the council of ministers when Modi returned to power in May last year.

“Hegde is correct in saying Bapu's Freedom Fight was a drama. It was so intense that it opened the eyes of the British to their immoral colonisation and enslavement of India,” Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma's grandson said.