Hegde sends reply to BJP leadership, denies charges against him

BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde has written to the party leadership that he made no mention of Mahatma Gandhi in his speech, which has faced flak for its swipe at the Father of the Nation, and controversial remarks attributed to him are "incorrect".

BJP sources said Hegde sent a detailed reply to party president J P Nadda, and the party's disciplinary committee, which issued him a show-cause notice to him on Monday, is studying its content before deciding its next course of action.

Hegde has claimed he did not name Mahatma Gandhi nor did he insult him in his speech and news reports about his speech are "incorrect". He added he also did not use words like "nautanki" or "drama" to describe the freedom struggle led by Gandhi.

There is a view in the party that what the former Union minister said might be in bad taste but its content was distorted in some media reports, a senior BJP leader said.

Speaking in Kannada at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday to commemorate Veer Savarkar, an iconic Hindutva figure, Hegde said freedom fighters who did not sacrifice anything made the country believe that it attained independence through 'Upavas Satyagrah', Gandhi's preferred mode of agitation by undertaking fast.

"Such people became 'Mahapurush (great person)," said Hegde, who is no stranger to controversies.

The Gandhi-led freedom struggle was an "adjustment" with the British, he said, suggesting that the contribution of revolutionaries and other freedom fighters who were not associated with the Congress were undermined.