Citing historian-writer Rajmohan Gandhi’s comments, the Congress on Friday termed as “blatant lie” Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becoming Prime Minister for the first time was possible through ‘vote theft’.
Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on ‘X’ a video clip of Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in which he has said that the state Congress committees had advocated making Patel the Congress President in 1946 and at that time there was no question of the post of Prime Minister.
Ramesh said, “Eminent historian-writer and former MP Rajmohan Gandhi has exposed a white lie told by the Union Home Minister in the Lok Sabha.”
In the video, Rajmohan Gandhi said, “Thousands of people who were jailed for the Quit India Movement were released in 1945. Maulana Azad was the Congress President since the Ramgarh session of the Congress in 1940. Since so many people had gone to jail, the question of electing a new president did not arise and the Congress was also banned by the British. Therefore, Maulana Azad remained the president and the question of electing a new president arose in 1946, he said.
Rajmohan Gandhi says, “It was not a question as to who would be the Prime Minister. People knew that India would soon gain independence but there was no agreement between the British and Indian sides.” He said, ”There was a tradition that every PCC would put forward a name that this person should be made the president. And if three-four names came, all these names were placed before (Mahatma) Gandhiji and he would say, ‘Let’s give this person a chance’ and people mostly agreed with him.”
Rajmohan Gandhi said that the person chosen by Gandhiji was unanimously elected as the next President of the Congress. He said, “I do not say that this was a good method but it was being followed at that time.” He said, “In 1946, when the question of the post of President arose, many PCCs put forward the name of Sardar Patel that he should be made the President and two-three PCCs also put forward the name of Acharya Kripalani, but no one put forward the name of Nehru.
Rajmohan Gandhi said, “Jabalpur’s DP Mishra has written in his book that when we put forward Patel’s name, we did not have the post of Prime Minister in our mind.” He said that Patel had been the President only once in 1931, while Nehru had been the President in 1929, 1936 and 1937.
Rajmohan Gandhi said, “Patel was 14 years older than Nehru, his health was also not good and he had a big role in the Quit India Movement. Many people thought that they would honor Patel by making him president but had no idea of making him prime minister.
Rajmohan Gandhi said, “Gandhiji asked Patel and Kripalani to withdraw their names and they immediately did so.” When the Working Committee was sitting, they (the Working Committee members) only proposed that Nehru be made the President.”
The historian said that when the agreement was reached with the British, Nehru was the Congress president and was invited to form the government.
While participating in the discussion on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Amit Shah had said that at the time of independence, the Prime Minister was being selected by the votes of the State Congress Committees and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel got 28 votes, while Jawaharlal Nehru got only two votes. Despite this Nehru became Prime Minister.
In another post on ‘X’, Ramesh said, “Yesterday in the Rajya Sabha, after distorting history, House leader and BJP president J.P. Nadda ji put forward his main demand that the status of national anthem and national song should be equal. I had to interrupt and remind him that long ago, in the last meeting of the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950, its President Dr. Rajendra Prasad had declared that Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram would be given equal respect… and would have equal status…” He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s strategy of pitting Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore against each other and insulting Gurudev had backfired.
