'BJP misleads India by invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Patel'

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of misleading the country by invoking the names of Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel for garnering votes.

He said that it was Patel who as the then home minister had banned the RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but the BJP now takes his name frequently to appropriate his legacy.

"The new generation needs to be made aware that there were great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel during the freedom struggle, the RSS did not recognise their greatness that time but now BJP and RSS are misusing their names," Gehlot told reporters at the Congress office here.

He said that they have nothing to with the legacy of Gandhi or Patel but they are now using their names to garner votes.

"We need to expose them- how the ruling party is misleading people on their legacy and names. The new generation will have to be told the fact that it was Sardar Patel, whose name is taken by Modi repeatedly now, who had banned RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.

Noting that the country is passing through a “very difficult” phase, the chief minister said that an atmosphere of fear, violence and tension is prevailing in the country, the economy is sinking and people are losing jobs.

“Only Gandhi's ideals of peace, brotherhood and unity, which is also the ideals of Congress party, can save the nation,” he said after attending a party meeting.

The chief minister said that the Congress party and the government will organise various programmes to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi from October 2.