Bhubaneswar: An Odisha government booklet describing Mahatma Gandhi’s death as an “accident” has triggered a row in the state Legislative Assembly on Friday with both Congress and ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members condemning such portrayal.
Holding Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the blunder, Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingh Mishra demanded an apology from the CM.
“This is deplorable. I hold the Chief Minister responsible for this. He needs to seek apology from the people. If he has knowingly done it, I demand his resignation. People of the country can never excuse him,” Mishra said in the Assembly.
The two-page booklet Aama Bapuji: Eka Jhalaka (Our Bapuji: A Glimpse), published by the state’s school and mass education department on occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, said Gandhi died due to accidental reasons in a sudden sequence of events on January 30, 1948, at Delhi’s Birla House.
“What does it mean? It means that Odisha government has accepted that Godse is not the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi even though he has already been hanged. Since some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are describing Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Gandhi, as God, it seems the BJD has got influenced by that ideology. This is unfortunate,” said Mishra.
The CLP leader slammed both the BJP and the BJD saying both are two sides of the same coin.
Incidentally, the BJD member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik also condemned the misrepresentation and said it is conspiracy to recreate history.
“All should condemn this by rising above political considerations,” Patnaik said. Speaker Surya Narayan Patro directed the state government to give its reply on Saturday
