Rahul Gandhi’s speeches taste bitter to heirs of Nathuram Godse, says T.N. CM Stalin

He is not speaking about electoral or party politics, but ideology-based politics; sometimes, his speeches remind us of those of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday said the speeches of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were creating a storm in the country and were tasting bitter “to the heirs of Nathuram Godse”.

“He (Rahul Gandhi) is not speaking about electoral or party politics, but ideology-based politics. That is why he is strongly opposed by some. Sometimes, his speeches remind us of those of (former Prime Minister and Mr. Gandhi’s great grandfather) Jawaharlal Nehru. It will be a surprise only if the heir of Nehru has not spoken like that. The heirs of Godse find the speeches of the heir of Gandhi and Nehru bitter,” Mr. Stalin said, after releasing the Tamil translation of Congress leader A. Gopanna’s book, ‘Jawaharlal Nehru, An Illustrated Biography’, in Chennai.

He said the book should be there in every house as a gesture of gratitude to Nehru’s contribution to the country.

“Nehru echoed the voice of not only the Congress, but the entire country. He was against one language, one religion, one race, one culture, and one common law. He also made it clear that communalism and nationalism could not remain together. That is why he is celebrated by secular forces,” Mr. Stalin said.

The Chief Minister pointed out how Nehru saved the social justice principles of the Dravidian movement by agreeing to an amendment to the Constitution to protect the communal reservation introduced by the Justice Party. “He nurtured the seed sown by Tamil Nadu into a tree. He promised that Hindi would not be imposed on non-Hindi-speaking States. That is why we celebrate Nehru,” he said.

Mr. Stalin also referred to the portion of the book that gave details of Nehru’s promise after DMK founder C.N. Annadurai decided to organise a black flag protest against a visit by the President to Tamil Nadu. “At a meeting on the Marina, Anna showed the letter, saying it had been signed by Nehru, who had shaken hands with world leaders,” he said.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that if the country today had States along linguistic lines, such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the credit should go to Nehru.